Letter: Listen to the Lords

Sir: Why didn't Tony Blair allow the Lords to sign their own death warrant over a truly popular measure, that is, the banning of hunting with dogs, as encap-sulated in Michael Foster's Bill, and for which 411 MPs voted almost exactly one year ago?

When the Lords inevitably rejected the Bill, public opinion really would have been against them, and the Government could have earned great popularity by then bringing in the Parliament Act to overrule them.

Instead of letting the Lords display themselves as an anachronism in trying to preserve a cruel bloodsport, Tony Blair and his Cabinet have earned themselves the fury of the animal welfare lobby and all animal lovers by letting this Bill die, and bearing the responsibility themselves.

PENNY LITTLE

Great Haseley, Oxfordshire