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Blair 'won't stop hunt ban delay'
The government says it will not oppose the Countryside Alliance if it seeks an injunction delaying the ban on hunting.
The ban on hunting is due to be implemented in February The government says it will not oppose the Countryside Alliance if it seeks an injunction delaying the ban on hunting. The alliance will challenge the way the ban was pushed into law in the High Court next month, but is also planning to seek an injunction if it loses. This could stop the ban becoming law in England and Wales in February - shortly before a possible general election. The BBC's James Hardy said this would unofficially allow Tony Blair to duck a row which could overshadow an election. The prime minister has made no secret of his opposition to an outright ban on hunting - and was not keen on it coming into force so close to a possible election. Parliament Act Mr Blair said in November after the Hunting Bill was passed: "We will now go to the courts and I have no doubt it will be an [election] issue, but it always was going to be an issue." But now, James Hardy said, Downing Street had spotted a way of buying time that could push the controversy beyond polling day. On the basis of conversations between counsels... my understanding is that the attorney general would not object to an application for an injunction Countryside Alliance chairman John Jackson The Countryside Alliance's legal challenge late next month is based around the use of the 1949 Parliament Act which forced through the ban in the face of opposition from the House of Lords. If the case is thrown out by the High Court it intends to appeal. It could seek an injunction to postpone the implementation of the hunting ban until the end of the legal process. Its lawyers claim the 1949 Parliament Act is itself invalid because it was never approved by the House of Lords. 'Considerable legs' Countryside Alliance chairman John Jackson said anyone who believed hunting was going to end in February "had better think again". "On the basis of conversations that have taken place between counsels, my understanding is that the attorney general would not object to an application for an injunction suspending the operation of the act," he told Radio 4's Today programme. He said: "Both legal challenges have got very considerable legs and, in my opinion, great legal and moral right behind them." But Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael told the BBC "a deal has not been done". 'Every right' He said: "It's a question of being relaxed about what the court decides. We're confident that the challenge will not succeed, that we have good law and that in the fullness of time all law-abiding people will obey that law Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael "The court is the correct place where the Countryside Alliance has every right to make its challenge and we're happy for them to be able to make that challenge in the court. "We're confident that the challenge will not succeed, that we have good law and that in the fullness of time all law-abiding people will obey that law." The little-used Parliament Act is invoked when MPs and peers cannot agree on a Bill. The ban has provoked strong protest, with hunts vowing to meet the day after the ban is implemented - 18 February.
23.12.04
