Campaigners hail hunting ban vote

ANTI-BLOODSPORTS campaigners were celebrating today after MPs voted for a total ban on hunting foxes with dogs in England and Wales.

Members supported an outright ban by an overwhelming majority of 208 in the House of Commons last night after an impassioned five-and-a-half hour debate as demonstrators from both camps protested outside Parliament.

The result of the free vote killed off government proposals which would have outlawed stag-hunting and hare-coursing, but permitted fox-hunting under licence in areas where it was judged to be less cruel than other methods of culling foxes.

It came after a last-minute decision by Environment Minister Alun Michael to withdraw a "tidying up" amendment which would have blocked the vote on an outright ban, in what was seen as an effort to avoid an embarrassing defeat for the Government.

But doubts were immediately raised over whether the Hunting Bill would become law, with the Countryside Alliance claiming it had been "fatally damaged".

It was last night sent back to an MPs’ committee for procedural work to incorporate the changes, which a spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said should be completed in time for MPs to vote on the amended Bill before the Commons rises for the summer on July 17.

But it will face stiff opposition in the House of Lords, which has twice previously voted against a total ban. It must clear the Lords by the end of the session in September or October in order to come into force.