MP gets on high horse for Commons protest

For the first time in 80 years an MP was today riding into Parliament on a horse.

Tory James Gray is protesting against the lifting of a ban on shipping horses abroad for slaughter by the salami trade.

He is the first MP to exercise a right to ride his steed into the precincts of the Commons since Sir Arthur Samuel in 1920.

Mr Gray was borrowing a retired police mount to trek through Parliament Square with a group of riders from the International League for the Protection of Horses. He will then trot through the gates of Palace Yard before going, on foot, into a special debate.

Live horse exports for food have been outlawed for 70 years but the Government has accepted EU changes which mean the ban will lapse. Tories say ministers should negotiate an opt-out.

Mr Gray said: "Most people hate the idea of exporting our horses to be made into sausages and salami on the continent."