Mixed response to hunt ban

Mid Sussex MP Nicholas Soames addressed hunting supporters

A vote by MPs to bring in an outright ban on hunting with dogs has met a mixed response in the South East.

MPs forced the government's compromise Hunting Bill to become an all-out ban, by 362 votes to 154, in a debate in the Commons on Monday night.

The government may still have to invoke the Parliament Act to push a ban on fox hunting through the Lords.

Conservative MP for Maidstone and The Weald, Ann Widdecombe, was one of 10 Kent MPs to vote in favour of the outright ban.

SUSSEX MPs VOTING FOR BAN

Norman Baker (Lib Dem, Lewes)

Ivor Caplin (Lab, Hove)

Michael Foster (Lab, Hastings and Rye)

David Lepper (Lab, Brighton Pavilion)

Laura Moffatt (Lab, Crawley

Des Turner (Lab, Brighton and Kemptown)

She said she was confident the bill would lead to an end to fox hunting despite the opposition it may meet in the Lords.

"I think this time it will happen," she said. "This is a government bill after all, not a private member's bill.

"The House of Commons expressed itself through a huge majority - I think it was larger than even the most ardent of us had hoped that it would be."

Miss Widdecombe criticised the government's "muddled" approach in withdrawing its compromise bill 10 minutes before the vote, following five-and-a-half hours of debate.

SUSSEX MPs VOTING AGAINST BAN

Greg Barker (Con, Bexhill and Battle)

Peter Bottomley (Con, Worthing West)

Nick Gibb (Con, Bognor and Littlehampton)

Charles Hendry (Con, Wealden)

Francis Maude (Con, Horsham)

Nicholas Soames (Con, Mid Sussex)

Andrew Tyrie (Con, Chichester)

But the back benches were in a "sufficiently angry mood" to ensure the legislation did go through, she said.

She and fellow Kent MP Roger Gale were two of only six Conservatives to vote in favour of the bill.

In Surrey, just three MPs out of 13 supported an outright ban.

They were the Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow, for Sutton and Cheam and Labour MPs Geraint Davies, for Croydon Central and Malcolm Wicks, for Croydon North.

KENT MPs VOTING FOR BAN

Paul Clark (Lab, Gillingham)

Roger Gale (Con, Thanet North)

Dr Stephen Ladyman (Lab, Thanet South)

Bob Marshall-Andrews (Lab, Medway)

Chris Pond (Lab, Gravesham)

Gwyn Prosser (Lab, Dover)

Jonathan Shaw (Lab, Chatham and Aylesford)

Dr Howard Stoate (Lab, Dartford)

Ann Widdecombe (Con, Maidstone and The Weald)

Derek Wyatt (Lab, Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Graeme Worsley, joint master of the Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent Hunt, said the initial reaction of hunt supporters had been negative.

But, he said, the last-minute withdrawal of the original compromise bill in favour of an outright ban meant it would actually take much longer for it to come into force.

He said: "The initial reaction was 'oh my god, it's banned', but then we thought 'oh my god it's ridiculous - the ban will never go through'."

Mr Worsley said a ban on fox hunting would mean four people at the hunt, based in Felbridge, near East Grinstead, lost their jobs and their homes.

KENT MPs VOTING AGAINST BAN

Michael Fallon (Con, Sevenoaks)

John Horam (Con, Orpington)

Michael Howard (Con, Folkestone and Hythe)

Archie Norman (Con, Tunbridge Wells)

Hugh Robertson (Con, Faversham and Mid Kent)

Sir John Stanley (Con, Tonbridge and Malling)

The hunt's 35 regular participants and 100 or more occasional riders would also lose out, he said.

He criticised the government for ignoring the evidence collected in numerous reports.

"They've sat down and said 'we are not interested in the evidence' - it's a complete waste of time."

Mr Worsley said hounds with blood lines going back 300 years would have to be shot if they could no longer be used.

SURREY MPs VOTING AGAINST BAN

Peter Ainsworth (Con, Surrey East)

Sir Paul Beresford (Con, Mole Valley)

Crispin Blunt (Con, Reigate)

Virginia Bottomley (Con, Surrey South West)

Chris Grayling (Con, Epsom and Ewell)

Philip Hammond (Con, Runnymede and Weybridge)

Nicholas Hawkins (Con, Surrey Heath)

Humfrey Malins (Con, Woking)

David Wilshire (Con, Spelthorne)

Conservative MP Hugh Robertson (Faversham and Mid Kent), who opposed the ban, said he was appalled by the government's behaviour.

He described the withdrawal of the compromise bill as "utterly pathetic".

But Labour MP Jonathan Shaw (Chatham and Aylesford) said he was delighted what he called a "barbaric sport" was being scrapped.

He anticipated it would be years rather than months before the legislation came into effect.