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"Fox-hunting with hounds is to be banned in England and Wales from February 2005 after the Queen gave her Royal Assent to the controversial Hunting Act.
The announcement that the Act was now law was made in the House of Lords with the traditional Norman words "La Reyne le Veult", to a mixture of jeers and cheers from peers and MPs summoned for the ceremony marking the end of the parliamentary session.
Earlier, the Speaker of the Commons invoked the Parliament Act for only the fourth time since 1949 in order to force the legislation through in the face of stubborn opposition from the Lords.
The passage of the fiercely-contested legislation is expected to trigger demonstrations and legal action from supporters of hunting, who plan to challenge the Bill on human rights grounds and question the legitimacy of the Parliament Act itself.
Peers maintained their dogged resistance to a ban until the last moment, voting by 153 to 114 to retain regulated hunting.
Their refusal to budge meant that a compromise offered by MPs, who voted earlier to delay the implementation of the ban until the end of July 2006, was struck out.
Fox-hunting - along with deer-hunting and hare-coursing with dogs - will now be banned in three months' time.
RSPCA director of animal welfare John Rolls welcomed the passing of the Bill as "a watershed in the development of a more civilised society for people and animals".
But Lord Strathclyde, the Tory leader in the Lords, said events "threaten the livelihoods of thousands, draw a knife across centuries of tradition in our countryside but will lead to not a single animal being spared a violent death".
Some huntsmen have vowed to defy efforts to outlaw their sport, insisting they are ready to face arrest and possible imprisonment by carrying on hunting after the ban comes into place."
Considering this was supposed to be in the Labour manifesto when they came to power in 1997 it's not before time, but I suppose better late than never....
The announcement that the Act was now law was made in the House of Lords with the traditional Norman words "La Reyne le Veult", to a mixture of jeers and cheers from peers and MPs summoned for the ceremony marking the end of the parliamentary session.
Earlier, the Speaker of the Commons invoked the Parliament Act for only the fourth time since 1949 in order to force the legislation through in the face of stubborn opposition from the Lords.
The passage of the fiercely-contested legislation is expected to trigger demonstrations and legal action from supporters of hunting, who plan to challenge the Bill on human rights grounds and question the legitimacy of the Parliament Act itself.
Peers maintained their dogged resistance to a ban until the last moment, voting by 153 to 114 to retain regulated hunting.
Their refusal to budge meant that a compromise offered by MPs, who voted earlier to delay the implementation of the ban until the end of July 2006, was struck out.
Fox-hunting - along with deer-hunting and hare-coursing with dogs - will now be banned in three months' time.
RSPCA director of animal welfare John Rolls welcomed the passing of the Bill as "a watershed in the development of a more civilised society for people and animals".
But Lord Strathclyde, the Tory leader in the Lords, said events "threaten the livelihoods of thousands, draw a knife across centuries of tradition in our countryside but will lead to not a single animal being spared a violent death".
Some huntsmen have vowed to defy efforts to outlaw their sport, insisting they are ready to face arrest and possible imprisonment by carrying on hunting after the ban comes into place."
Considering this was supposed to be in the Labour manifesto when they came to power in 1997 it's not before time, but I suppose better late than never....
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