Fox-hunting ban rushed to vote after one day debate

GOVERNMENT ministers yesterday announced they will give MPs the chance to vote to outlaw fox-hunting in England and Wales, but offered the pro-hunt lobby the concession of a two-year delay on any ban.

A bill will be rushed through the Commons in a special one-day session next week, and then forced through the Lords so that the new law is on the statute book in time for next year’s general election.

The two-year delay is intended to reduce the ferocity of any pro-hunt demonstrations in the run-up to the election, although ministers insist that it is not.

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"This period will give those involved in hunting more than adequate time to cease the activities which are to be banned, for humane arrangements, like the dispersal or rehoming of dogs, and for refocusing any business activities on alternatives like drag-hunting or disposal of fallen stock if they wish to do so," Alun Michael, the rural affairs minister told MPs.

But the Conservatives and the Countryside Alliance dismissed the delay, and warned of widespread unhappiness in rural areas at the ban.