The House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly to ban hunting with dogs in England and Wales. After a six-hour debate, MPs approved the ban in a free vote by a majority of 213. The Bill is expected to face strong opposition in the House of Lords, and it is unlikely to become law during the lifetime of the current parliament if, as expected, a general election is held in May.
Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted by 387 to 174 in favour of a motion banning the blood sport, having already rejected a compromise option of letting foxhunting continue under a licensing scheme. The banning legislation is likely to face stiff resistance in the upper chamber, where pro-hunting conservatives hold a majority. They can be over-ruled by the House of Commons, but the wrangling this will involve means the ban is unlikely to become law before the next election, which is tipped to take place in May.
A ban on hunting foxes with hounds has proved to be one of the most emotive issues in British politics for more than a decade, with activists on both sides of the argument taking to the streets to express their views. In the square outside the parliament building in Central London, disappointed supporters of hunting blew whistles and hunting horns when news of the vote emerged. Some of them had camped out for the past two days
Their leaders insisted that the fight to preserve foxhunting was far from over, claiming that Mr Blair's government would eventually cave in to public opposition to the ban. A spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports said that they welcome the parliamentary vote in favour of the outright ban. "We feel this is the final stage for hunting with dogs," he said.
Opponents of hunting foxes with hounds, which involves using a pack of dogs to pursue a wild fox across farmland with hungers on horseback in pursuit, say that the practice is barbaric and does not belong in the 21st century. Supporters accuse city-dwelling bureaucrats of misguided interference in a rural tradition they do not understand. They argue that fox-hunting is necessary to control a pest that kills livestock, and they claim that thousands of rural jobs will disappear if it is outlawed.
