Thousands of scarlet-clad fox hunters rode out Friday for traditional post-Christmas hunts, defying the boos and jeers of protesters demanding an end to blood sports. USA.

…ave so far signed a declaration pledging they will continue hunting illegally if there is a ban.…

… be able to use the Parliament Act to push through a ban on hunting. According to Stephen Pound, Labour MP, "It absolutely the one single visceral issue for Labour backbenchers where we feel its a matter of credibility."…

…ondent. If the government does push ahead with a ban on fox-hunting, the results of a new poll show ministers may face an uphill struggle to convince voters it is a priority as a poll shows only 2 per cent of people believe that foxhunting should…

Audio interviews with pro- and anti-hunting protestors.

Environment Minister Michael Meacher pulls out of the march when he discovers it supports hunting.

Includes audio interviews with Simon Hart (CA Campaign for Hunting) and Nicholas Jones (BBC). [RealPlayer]

Analysis of the difficulties in implementing a ban on hunting.

…. MPs last night endorsed overwhelmingly a total ban on fox hunting, paving the way for a confrontation with the Lords which will spill over into the general election campaign.…

A man has been arrested in connection with the theft of 47 beagles from kennels near Ashford in Kent last month. One of the dogs, named Sexton, has also been retrieved and returned to members of the Wye Beagles Hunt after being discovered in Bristol last week by investigators.…

The Countryside Alliance (CA) says it will seriously consider the "middle way" of statutory controls on hunting.

Gaby Hinsliff, chief political correspondent. Labour backbenchers will mount a major push for a ban on hunting with support from a carrot-dangling Government.

…applicability of the European Convention on Human Rights to hunting.…

Commons leader Peter Hain has hinted that the government will move to ban fox hunting by Christmas.

Leader blames the hunting ban on the failure of leadership from Prime Minister Tony Blair, who never publicly declared his hand until the final vote when it was too late.

…A), has challenged the Welsh Assembly Government to licence hunting with dogs in Wales despite the new ban.…

Robin Lane Fox commentary on the problems with the concept of a hunting ban, as well as the methods the government is using to achieve it.

Response to the Government's ban on hunting and the associated problems.

…de to Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael claiming that the Hunting Act was about class war, was quite clearly "not a statement of Government policy."…

…ent of the Government's backing of a new form of legal hunting that allows people and dogs to chase foxes, deer or any other wild mammal away from crops or any other animals.…