MP’s have voted emphatically for an outright ban on hunting with hounds following a heated debate in the House of Commons. The vote was 386 for and 175 against, a majority of 211.
The debate will now move to the House of Lords, where the peers, traditionally in favour of hunting, will be under pressure to follow this strong government line.
Speculation has been rife that there have been behind-the-scenes deals involving the Lords to go for the ‘Middle Way’ option of licensed hunts, but this has always been denied by the government, which will announce soon how it intends to proceed.
Rural affairs minister Alun Michael opened the debate and said that the votes in both the Commons and the Lords were an important step towards keeping a manifesto promise for Parliament to reach a conclusion on the controversial issue.
“The question of hunting is very firmly on this House’s agenda. It’s extremely contentious and it needs to be resolved.” He told MP’s.
And added, “All points made in the debate in both Houses will be listened to and considered. Once the votes have taken place … I intend to make a statement on the way forward before the Easter recess”.
