Lords in 'last-chance saloon' over foxhunting deadlock

The House of Lords is in the "last-chance saloon" over proposals to ban foxhunting, peers were warned yesterday as the Government urged them not to provoke a constitutional clash by blocking the will of MPs.

The House of Lords is in the "last-chance saloon" over proposals to ban foxhunting, peers were warned yesterday as the Government urged them not to provoke a constitutional clash by blocking the will of MPs.

Lord Whitty, the Environment minister, paved the way for a showdown between peers and MPs when he told the House of Lords that ministers were prepared to use the Parliament Act to end the deadlock and force through the Bill banning foxhunting.

But in an angry debate on the Hunting Bill, peers vowed to defy MPs and try to reintroduce the Government's proposed licensing system, despite its rejection by the House of Commons.

Last year, the row ended in deadlock between the two houses after anti-hunt MPs forced through an amendment replacing the licensing system with an outright ban. A new Bill banning hunting was rushed through the Commons last month in a single day amid protests by hunt supporters and an invasion of the chamber after a security breach. Police were patrolling the corridors of Westminster yesterday.

Opening debate on the Bill in the Lords, Lord Whitty insisted that the Government would force through the Bill using the Parliament Act if peers could not reach agreement with the Commons. He said: "Your lordships need to reflect that we are now in the last-chance saloon. The ball is in the court in this house, of those who have supported hunting in its present form, to offer a way forward, or alternatively to accept the Bill as it now stands if we are not to provoke the use of the Parliament Act."

Peers across the chamber condemned the use of the Parliament Act and insisted they would oppose attempts to impose a ban. Conservative Lord Mancroft, a board member of the Countryside Alliance, accused ministers of acting like a "fascist dictatorship".

In a rare intervention, the Conservative frontbencher, Lord Burns, who chaired the Government's inquiry into foxhunting, said: "I do find it very difficult to accept the use of the Parliament Act in circumstances where there is no scientific support for the animal welfare implications of a ban.

"I fear it could only be divisive in the country at large, as well as being inconsistent with the use of that procedure."

Baroness Byford said the Parliament Act should only be used in times of national emergency, and warned that a ban on hunting would lead to attacks on fishing, shooting and even horse racing. She said: "This ancient parliament of two houses which has dealt with centuries of troubled questions, wars and affairs of state is being abused. This Bill has little to do with animal welfare and all to do with bigotry and class prejudice."

Traditionally peers do not vote on a second reading, but the Lords is expected to do so at the end of the month.