UK News 18-11-2004 Fox Hunting Banned From February who: The House of Lords what: Votes 188 to 79 against ban on hunting where: House of Lords, LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: In a rare gesture of government defiance over the upper house, The Parliament Act of 1949 will be invoked today by the Speaker of the Commons, Michael Martin, says The Guardian, "after the House of Lords mobilised a final defiant stand by voting against a ban on hunting by 188 to 79." "Environment Minister Lords Whitty urged peers to back down," says the BBC, "but in the end they opted to back a licensed hunt system - something which anti-hunting Labour MPs are just not prepared to accept." "Tony Blair, who voted against a complete ban on Tuesday night, now faces the prospect of mass protests and civil disobedience by the pro-hunt lobby during a general election campaign, expected next spring," predicts Toby Helm, The Telegraph`s chief political correspondent. The government had hoped to stall the ban until after the next general election. However, explains The Times, that option is now out of the question. "The regulations in the Parliament Act enable legislation to pass into law if it has been rejected by the Lords in two successive parliamentary sessions," writes David Charter, "but it can be used only on the original legislation, which in this case states that the ban will take place in three months." [... more]

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