Guardian: Government hunts for a compromise

Michael White, political editor. If passed by both Houses of Parliament, which are as divided as the wider public, the hunting bill would ban hare coursing and stag-hunting while protecting angling and shooting as well as falconry. Ratting with terrier packs and rabbiting will be allowed under the bill, not least because alternatives such as poisoning and trapping are deemed more cruel. Rats are a threat to people and livestock, ministers point out.