Panting for it
1 July 2003
As MPs arrived at Westminster this Monday they were greeted by rows of underpants neatly pinned to washing lines erected all around Parliament Square. Under the pants were their owners ≠ women from the pro-hunt group ëFamilies for Huntingí.
Women-only protests in Parliament Square are rare. They are also a great deal calmer than mixed ones. MPs coming in and out of Parliament were greeted with cheers if they were wearing the hunting pink carnation of the supporter's group or good tempered boos if they were not.
I got my fair share of boos on my way to and from my office on Whitehall. But there was no malice in them. A welcome change from the hissing hate of the bedraggled anti-war protesters who have been in the square since the New Year. Even they looked cheerful on Monday.
Cut to the chase
Inside the Commons things were similarly good tempered. We have debated hunting so many times since 1997 that much of the heat has been taken out of the subject. However, that did not stop people from delivering the same speech. This made for a very long night.
In the end, the government withdrew its 'third way' licensing proposal and MPs voted overwhelmingly for a total ban.
The Hunting Bill will now go back to a Committee of the Commons for the total ban amendment to be incorporated. Then it will return to the Commons for the report and Third Reading stages before going on to the House of Lords. There it will undoubtedly be moulded and returned to the Commons. We will restore it and send it back. This ping-ponging could, theoretically, go on indefinitely. However, the Parliament Act will be invoked and the Common's version should become law by late 2004 or early 2005.
Win win
I realise that this will be good news for many but sad news for some. However, as someone who drag hunted as a child I cannot see why this alternative, which keeps pleasures of hunting but removes the pain, is not more attractive to hunters.
The pink coats, stirrup cups, dogs and horns can all stay. All that goes is the fox. In his or her place you have a paper trail. So, no jobs and no lives are lost. Win-win all round.
Fun in the sun
It was carnival time in Stevenage on Sunday. I joined the procession as it winded its way through the Old Town up Fairlands and down Six Hills Way. It was a real pleasure to see the wonder on the faces of the youngsters lining the route as the cheerleaders, stilt walkers and floats approached. Families danced to the drumming, laughed at the costumes and filled the collection buckets with coins.
The Rotarians, who put an enormous amount of hard work into the event, deserve all our thanks for a good fun day in the sun.
Barbara Follett MP
