Tomorrow’s vote on the hunting ban has been pulled

The government has confirmed that it is pulling tomorrow’s vote on the relaxation of the hunting ban. A Downing Street source is frank about why they are doing this, the vote would be lost with the SNP voting against and so there’s not much point in having it. Indeed, even the Countryside Alliance accepts that no good would come from pressing on.

This brings to an end David Cameron’s attempt to allow a full pack of hounds to be used to flush out a fox, first revealed by Melissa Kite in The Spectator. What has done for it is the SNP’s opportunism in saying that it will vote against a measure that simply brings the law in England and Wales into line with that in Scotland. The whole episode is a reminder of how tight the parliamentary arithmetic is at the moment.

But beyond the Westminster game-playing, spare a though for the hill farmers who will have more of their flocks eaten because of the unwillingness of the Commons to pass this pest control measure.