'A-hunting I will go' says MP Luff

Although the ban came into force today, hundreds of hunts are ready to meet in a show of defiance.

Mr Luff, the MP for Mid-Worcestershire who opposed the outright ban, plans to attend the North Cotswold Hunt starting at Broadway at 10.45am.

The Tory MP is co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Middle Way Group on hunting, which advocated a system of licensing rather than an outright ban.

But their efforts failed in November, after repeated votes by the Commons, led in part by Labour's Worcester MP Mike Foster, to introduce a complete ban on the sport.

The Countryside Alliance's subsequent legal challenge to the Hunting Act failed this week, as did their hopes for a delay to the implementation of the legislation.

Mr Luff said he had no intention of breaching the law, but he wants to demonstrate against legislation he feels is an act of class warfare.

"The Government has allowed an Act of Parliament to pass into law which no party leader, including the Prime Minister, voted for," said Mr Luff. "Even the Minister in charge of this legislation didn't vote for it.

"From the start, the Hunting Bill was hijacked by class warriors and was rushed through the Commons without any scrutiny."

Mr Luff has also predicted that the ban will be unenforceable because the terms of the Bill are unclear.

"It's not surprising that now the dust has settled, the exact offence can't even be properly defined, even by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

"This will make the job of the police almost impossible, especially if no extra funds or resources are offered from central government."

Last week, Mr Luff's Middle Way Group posted video footage of foxes being shot and snared to supporters of the ban, such as the League Against Cruel Sports.

The group claims that such killing techniques, resulting in greater cruelty to foxes than hunting with dogs, will be deployed more frequently when the ban takes effect.