UK News 15-09-2004 Fox Hunting Banned from July 2006 who: Tony Blair what: Agrees to 11th hour amendment bringing forward proposed hunting ban where: House of Commons, LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: MPs are expected to vote to ban hunting with dogs in England and Wales today, after which the Bill will be passed to the Lords for debate. But it could be forced through if the Speaker of the House of commons, Michael Martin, invokes the power of the elected House to overrule the upper house. "Lord Tebbit, a former Tory cabinet minister, said the Lords would vote to replace the outright ban with a licensing system," explains The Independent. "That threatens to trigger the Parliament Act, and could hasten the Bill onto the statute book under the arcane rules of Parliament." The ban was expected to come into force after two years, which would have made fox hunting illegal from November 2006. However, an 11th-hour amendment to the Bill, to mollify anti-hunting Labour MPs, will bring forward the ban to July 31st 2006, in advance of the hunting season, which starts in August. "Mr Blair, who is understood to have taken a lot of persuading," says The Guardian, "was finally won round after it became clear that the delay would be in place until after the last possible date for the general election, which would be the summer of 2006." [... more]

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