Foxhunting to be banned by February

Foxhunting today looked certain to be outlawed by February, raising the prospect of mass protests during the general election campaign.

After seven years of argument and hundreds of hours of debate in Parliament, the ban is expected to be forced through its final stages within 24 hours.

Labour MPs last night threw out a compromise which would have seen some hunts survive under licence, by a huge majority of 117.

With MPs determined to get their way, the Bill to ban the sport returned to the Lords where pro-hunting peers were making a defiant last stand. The expectation was that Commons Speaker Michael Martin would end the standoff either tonight or tomorrow by invoking the little-used Parliament Act to over-ride the wishes of the Lords.

The only question was whether peers would accept an 18-month delay in the ban which has been offered by Tony Blair in the hope of postponing the inevitable protests until after the general election. But the mood among peers appeared to be hardening in favour of the so-called "kamikaze option" of letting the ban go through without delay in the hope it could be declared illegal by the courts.

Pro-hunting Labour peer Baroness Mallalieu warned the Government to expect a furious backlash at the election. She said the ban was driven by "pure prejudice" and warned: "This will do the Labour party the most enormous damage in the countryside."

The Prime Minister is worried about civil disobedience campaigns when the ban comes into force. Emotions are bound to run high when hundreds of foxhounds are destroyed and jobs lost among hunt workers.

Mr Blair voted for the compromise last night in an apparent attempt to distance himself from the full-blooded ban, as did around half the Cabinet. But Labour backbenchers were determined to force through a straightforward abolition and jeered "tally ho" when the result of the vote was announced.

Countryside Minister Alun Michael said it would be the Lords' fault if the parliament Act - used only three times since the Second World War - is used. Making a final plea to peers to compromise, he urged: "They have the opportunity now to respond to another common sense proposal the Government has put forward, which is to delay the ban until July 2006."

The Countryside Alliance were pinning their hopes on several court challenges to stop the ban. On Friday, lawyers will argue that the Parliament Act cannot be used because it was not properly ratified in 1949.

A separate challenge involves using the Human Rights Act to argue that abolition affects people's right to work freely in the hunting industry. Ministers believe both attempts have no chance of succeeding.

Tory leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy both backed the compromise plan during the fiery debate last night. Among Cabinet ministers backing the amendment were Home Secretary David Blunkett, Health Secretary John Reid and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Ministers backing a full ban include Education Secretary Charles Clarke, Leader of the Commons Peter Hain and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.