Portrait of the Week – 25 September 2004

Five protesters, who had gained access to Parliament by posing as electricians, invaded the House of Commons during the debate on the Bill to outlaw fox hunting and engaged in scuffles with several officials in tights. Pro-hunting protesters were also out in force in Parliament Square, where several were injured in clashes with riot police. MPs once again voted in favour of a ban, though Tony Blair still hinted at a compromise. Ramblers celebrated the opening of the first tracts of moorland under the ‘right to roam’ legislation but without the countryside minister, Alun Michael, who had been advised by the police to keep away from hunting types. Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, proposed a plan to cut the sentences served by murderers to ten years if they confessed before trial. The Liberal Democrats began their conference in Bournemouth by promising to increase to 50 per cent the upper rate of tax on incomes over £100,000, but to cut taxes for low income-earners.