Hunt ban unlikely before election

Hunting ban may be a long way off

By BBC News Online's political correspondent Nick Assinder.

After months of speculation the government has finally decided to introduce its own bill on the future of fox hunting.

Home Secretary Jack Straw delighted the anti-hunt lobby by announcing that rather than support a backbencher's bill, he would draw up his own legislation on the issue.

By doing so he has signalled that the government gives such importance to the issue that it is ready to spend a considerable amount of its own parliamentary time resolving it once and for all.

But he went on to declare that the government would remain neutral and give MPs a free vote - so making it an issue of personal, rather than party political, principle.

Jack Straw will introduce a government bill

It will now become a conscience issue along the lines of previous votes on the death penalty, abortion and the gay age of consent - so ensuring the government is not tainted by the result.

The home secretary also announced a timetable that will ensure the move gets the maximum attention possible and will hang over the rest of this parliament.

Period of reflection

First off, MPs will be given a full Commons debate to help ministers decide which options should be offered - presumably ranging between an all-out ban and no change at all.

Then, after a period of reflection, a bill will be introduced in the next Queen's speech in November setting out those options.

After that Tony Blair will decide whether to put the bill top of the government's programme during what is likely to be the last few months before the next general election, or to leave it low on his list of priorities.

Once a decision has been taken by the House of Commons the bill will go to the House of Lords.

If any sort of ban is proposed it seems certain that peers - despite having been reformed to take out the vast majority of hereditaries - will kick it out.

And when quizzed about this scenario, Mr Straw was careful not to promise that the government would then invoke the little-used Parliament Act to overrule the Lords.

The result of all these parliamentary shenanigans is that there is not a cat in hell's chance of fox hunting being banned before the next general election.

And that has inevitably led to claims that the government is only reviving the issue in an attempt to divert attention away from its current problems and seize back the political agenda from Tory leader William Hague.

Class war

Hunting is also seen by many as a "heartlands" issue which could strike a chord with disillusioned Labour MPs and voters and bring them back on board.

Critics argue that it cannot be an issue close to Prime Minister Tony Blair's heart, or he would have simply introduced a bill to outlaw the sport and then used his vast majority to push it through the Commons and overrule the Lords.

Neither, they claim, is it of such burning importance to the vast majority of voters that the government should feel impelled to do something about it.

Others insist Mr Blair has bitten off more than he can chew and has stirred up exactly the sort of class war he dismissed as "rubbish" during his ill-fated speech to the Women's Institute last week.

They claim the issue could become Labour's "rural poll tax", with mass demonstrations by the Countryside Alliance buffeting the government right up until the election.

Either way. it is now certain that fox hunting is again firmly back on the political agenda.