Pro-hunt protesters clash with police at Commons

PRO-HUNTING campaigners clashed with police outside the Houses of Parliament yesterday as they protested against moves to curb their sport in England writes Alison Hardie.

There were rowdy scenes and six people were arrested - one for assaulting a policeman - as nearly 700 officers from the Metropolitan Police struggled to keep control over nearly 2,300 protesters.

The demonstrators employed a number of tactics to disrupt the police line, including flashing strong lights at police horses and setting off fireworks.

The protest meant the gates to the Houses of Parliament had to be closed, leaving the entire area around Westminster effectively under siege.

A spokesman for the police said they were "disappointed" by the behaviour of the crowd.

In a statement they accused the crowd of "pure recklessness" for throwing fireworks.

The Countryside Alliance had organised a pro-hunting march earlier this year which attracted 400,000 people into central London without trouble.

The government’s Hunting Bill, which proposes to outlaw stag hunting and hare coursing while allowing foxhunting with hounds to continue under licence, was receiving its second reading in the Commons as the protest was taking place outside. There were further ugly scenes as the two sets of pro-hunters tried to meet up at the gates of parliament but the combination of parked police vans and officers linking arms kept the crowds apart.

The whole area around Parliament Square was closed to traffic as the police attempted to contain the crowd to one area.

Baroness Mallalieu QC, a Labour peer and president of the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance, warned the government yesterday it faced "a serious amount of trouble" if the Hunting Bill becomes law.

Lady Mallalieu urged Alun Michael, the Rural Affairs Minister, to amend the bill to allow licences to be granted for stag hunting and hare coursing.

She said there was no justification for treating them differently from fox hunting.

Andy Trotter, a Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: "I’m thoroughly disappointed by totally unreasonable actions of a significant number of protesters in Parliament Square.

"Not only have they failed to keep to prior agreements with police, but they have shown pure recklessness by throwing fireworks in the area and even destroying part of a builder’s hoarding designed to keep the public safe. This demonstration has drawn on substantial police resources and disrupted life for central London - for which this group has shown no regard."