THE return of the Hunting Bill had been pencilled in for the gap between the Easter recess at Westminster and the June 10 Local and European Elections.

Reviving an issue so close to the hearts of Labour MPs and activists would offer a shot in the arm during a tough campaign, strategists were thinking earlier this year.

But the continuing turmoil in Iraq, coupled with endless speculation about Tony Blair's future, make this extremely unlikely now.

So when will the Bill to ban hunting - passed by MPs last year but rejected by the House of Lords - make a re-appearance?

Pro-hunt supporters are hoping the PM - keen to avoid yet another scrap at a time when he has enough on his hands - simply won't bother.

They point to last week's announcement by Defra that hunts are to help with the disposal of fallen stock.

(Under new EU rules, farmers are banned from burying animals unfit to eat on their own land.

Hunts - including the Worcestershire, Albrighton, Kidderminster and Cotswold North, in Broadway - are to help the Government out of a hole by collecting the animals and feeding them to their hounds).

How can the Government justify a fresh attack on these hunts now?

As Tory MP Peter Luff said last week: "For the Government to come back, in two or three weeks, with a Bill to ban hunting would look pretty foolish."

But Labour insiders, still confident Mr Blair will honour his pledge to resolve the issue of a ban in this Parliament, believe it is still only a matter of timing.

The Bill will return after the elections but before Party Conference Season, in late-September.

This will be when Mr Blair - who is braced for an electoral hammering - is most vulnerable, as hacks and MPs with nothing better to do turn their attentions to his imminent demise.

What better way to calm left-wing critics than to promise action on hunting? One insider said the Government would "take the hit" at the elections and then look to calm dissent by bringing the Bill back.

The source added: "The Bill is ready. It is just waiting to be brought out at a time that suits the party managers.

That will be when the real fun starts.