Centuries of hunting tradition will come to end in just three months time after the Government was last night forced to admit defeat in its attempts to reach a compromise.
In what will be a bitter blow for Tony Blair, peers rejected a last-minute deal to delay any ban on hunting with dogs until summer 2006 - a move that now pushes the issue to the heart of a General Election campaign next year.
Labour peers had been drafted in from all over the country in a bid to secure victory for the Prime Minister's "middle way" solution, but it was dismissed out of hand last night, leaving the Government facing the unpleasant prospect of legal challenges in court and the possibility of compensation payouts to hunt groups.
The Lords cheered their "kamikaze" style tactics last night, after voting by a majority of 39 to reject a deal to delay a hunting ban until July 31, 2006. That move paved the way for MPs to use the "nuclear option" of the Parliament Act and force through a complete ban on hunting by February 2005 with pro-hunt supporters already threatening a campaign of civil disobedience.
It will come as a deep disappointment to the Prime Minister, who just hours before had secured the agreement of Labour backbenchers to delay a hunting ban for at least 18 months.
They had voted by a majority of 151 to accept the compromise motion.
That delay, ministers said, would have given the industry essential time to find alternative employment, as well as remove the threat of legal challenges, demands for compensation, as well as push the issue well beyond the reach of a General Election, expected next year.
At one point, party officials admitted they had no idea what was going on, and even Labour chief whip and Durham MP Hilary Armstrong found herself on the end of a fierce attack from MPs, who feared the Government's amendments would have wrecked their chance of introducing a ban at all.
Last night she defended the move, saying it had been about "making sure those involved in the fox hunting industry got a proper opportunity to deal with the issues of retraining the animals and finding other jobs."
She was backed by Houghton MP Fraser Kemp who said he understood the "logic" of offering a transition period for the industry, but added: "It was absolutely critical that the will of the elected House of Commons prevailed."
Berwick MP Alan Beith said the Government's handling of the legislation had been "awful" and "deeply depressing" for all those involved in the hunting industry."
Hexham's Peter Atkinson also opposed the ban, saying: "The legislation itself is a shambles and the way it has gone through the House of Commons and Parliament, just shambolic."
The Journal: Today's Voice of the North
Page 2: Supporters vow to carry on the fight by preparing legal challenges
