Hunting lobby pledges pounds 1m

One of the biggest-ever election lobbying campaigns in recent history is being conducted by the British Field Sports Society in the run up to 1 May.

Faced with the prospect of a massive Labour landslide, the group is prepared to spend up to pounds 1m fighting an increasingly desperate battle to maintain the right to hunt in Britain. Labour has said it will give MPs a free vote on abolishing fox, deer and mink hunting if it came to power. Kim Sengupta