Annette Crosbie, the new president of the League Against Cruel Sports, explains why she backs anti-hunt protesters: "You have to make that kind of gesture, because simple reason and logic doesn't really get you anywhere, which is what the Countryside Alliance realised rather quickly."

The government looks set to offer a compromise to pro-hunters and their anti-hunt counterparts with a licensing system banning some hunts but allowing others. Pro-ban Lib Dem MP Norman Baker and pro-hunting Tory MP Michael Fabricant discuss whether a government compromise will work.

Tim Lewin, a hunt master at the Ledbury Hunt in Gloucestershire, and Josey Sharrad, fox hunting campaigner for the Campaign for the Protection of Hunted Animals, respond to plans to licence hunting with dogs.

Unveiling the proposals, Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael recommended a complete ban on stag hunting and hare coursing. He said that whether hunting with dogs was allowed in other cases would be judged on a case-by-case basis by an independent registrar.

The bill was given its second reading by 368 votes to 155, but there was scant support for the proposals from Labour backbenchers who are determined to ignore the principles of utility and cruelty and amend it into a total ban.

Shahid Naqvi. David Palmer, joint master of the Worcestershire Hunt: "The protesters are very welcome to come and present their view but they have an outdated argument against what they see as the toffs enjoying themselves, which is just not true."

Sue Leeman, Associated Press. Friends and foes of fox hunting were united in their opposition Wednesday to a proposed licensing system on the traditional sport that would ban some hunts but allow others. Canada.

The new Government proposals to control foxhunting appeared to please neither side of the heated debate in Derbyshire yesterday. Those who support the controversial sport and those vehemently against it were united in their opposition to the new scheme.

John Mason and Krisha Guha. Tony Blair risked a new confrontation with his backbenchers yesterday after ministers announced fox-hunting should be regulated rather than banned outright. The move, amid widespread unease in Labour ranks over foundation hospitals, top-up fees and Iraq, was attacked by anti-hunting MPs.

James Blitz, political editor. Interviewed on Sky News's Sunday with Adam Boulton programme, Mr Michael was asked whether, ultimately, the government would invoke the Parliament Act. He said: "What we want to do is have the bill scrutinised and improved, but at the end of the day, if it came to that, we have made it clear, there is a manifesto commitment, that we will enable parliament to reach a conclusion on this.

"Most people want to see cruelty prevented. They also want farmers, gamekeepers and others who have to manage the land to be able to do so."

NOP found that 41% of voters supported a "middle way" solution of regulating hunts that struck a "balance between civil liberties and animal welfare". Mori found 80% of British people thought hunting with dogs was cruel, but didn't ask whether it should be banned.

Michael White, political editor. If passed by both Houses of Parliament, which are as divided as the wider public, the hunting bill would ban hare coursing and stag-hunting while protecting angling and shooting as well as falconry. Ratting with terrier packs and rabbiting will be allowed under the bill, not least because alternatives such as poisoning and trapping are deemed more cruel. Rats are a threat to people and livestock, ministers point out.

Anne Perkins, political correspondent. A significant minority of Labour backbenchers are so angry that the government has backed off a total ban, using the Parliament Act to force the legislation through the Lords if necessary, that they will abstain on the second reading.

Nicholas Watt and Rebecca Allison. "The bill will end the sport of fox hunting because it will only be allowed as a form of pest control," one government source said. "You will only be allowed to hunt if you have a pink jacket with Rentokil on the back."

Nicholas Watt, political correspondent. Labour opponents of hunting reacted furiously when Mr Michael indicated that their overwhelming opposition to may count for nothing.

Michael White, political editor. Senior ministers are still clinging to the hope that a politically messy confrontation can be avoided between the pro- and anti-hunting lobbies as MPs prepare to vote on the issue tonight for the sixth time since 1997.

Simon Hoggart. MP's take advantage that Alun Michael's Hunting Bill continues to allow rabbiting and ratting, and turn on Mr Michael.

Nicholas Watt, political correspondent. The bill, the protests, the hopes of the government, the intentions of Labour backbenchers.

Timeline showing Labour's five year pursuit of hunting ban.

Leader. The majority should not ride roughshod over the minority. Few things are less attractive than campaigners who are libertarian about everything except liberty.

Five anti-hunt protesters were each sentenced to 200-240 hours of community punishment at Guildford Crown Court in result of a major police operation codenamed Operation Tempo. Shaun Reeves, 28, of Tenterton, Kent; Joan Blanch, 51, and Michael Seal, 43, both of Tunbridge Wells; Randolph McFarlane, 33, of Brighton, and Kate Fowler, 31, of Pyecombe, were part of a 55-strong mob that hurled bricks and missiles causing more than £3,000 worth of damage to a house next to the Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent hunt kennels in September 2000. One resident and three police officers were injured in the attack.

88 packs of hounds will be destroyed, jobs will be lost and communities will be destroyed - for what?

Brian Davies lives in the United States and organised donations of more than £1m to the Labour Party in 1997 and a further £30,000 from Mr Davies's UK-based campaign, the Political Animal Lobby, before last year's election. He predicted that the compromise deal recently offered by Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael would be defeated in the Commons in favour of an outright ban. From The Western Mail.

Nick Speed political editor. Plaid Cymru, meanwhile, was fuming at Mr Michael's response to its inquiries into whether there would be a separate registrar and tribunal for Wales when the minister answered it would be "a national body covering England and Wales." Caernarfon MP Hywel Williams claimed that the response showed "a total disregard not only for the National Assembly but for everybody living in Wales."

The Farmers' Union of Wales's land use officer, Rhian Nowell-Phillips, said, "Animal welfare organisations are never going to recognise hunting with dogs, applications are going to be automatically opposed, taking out of farmers' hands the ability to control predators."

Leader from The Western Mail. The Minister for Rural Affairs, Alun Michael, has yet to produce evidence in any degree of the "incontrovertible evidence" of deer and competitive hare coursing not meeting such set criteria. Such alleged incontrovertible evidence was not published in the Government's own inquiry into hunting - the Burns Inquiry. If such damning "incontrovert-ible evidence" were so clear, then experts would produce it and agree on it - they have not.

Terry Kirby, chief reporter. The turkey-eating Judy Gilbert explains why she wants to ban the hunting of poultry-eating foxes.

Terence Blacker. "You lot are quite happy to eat meat or poultry or fish that has involved animals being crammed into lorries and transported hundreds of miles to slaughterhouses or being factory-farmed, but the sight of a hedgehog with a broken leg gives you a complete nervous breakdown. Morally you humans are in a complete muddle."

Terry Kirby, chief reporter. There is still immense pressure on politicians from the animals rights lobby to introduce a complete ban. There is also fierce opposition among the huntsmen. The two sides look likely to do battle in the countryside as well as in the pages of the newspapers. In keeping with the tradition, protests by anti-hunt supporters are expected at today's meets but are likely to be low-key.

Sue Arnold. A warning to children's authors to lay off indoctrinating kids with anthropomorphic twaddle.

Cole Moreton. Ah, the traditional sights and sounds of Boxing Day: the snorting of horses and baying of foxhounds; the warming tones of a Salvation Army band; the merry jingle of television camera cables; and the vigorous chanting of ruddy-faced animal rights protesters. All these will be present in Market Square, Winslow, in Buckinghamshire, on Thursday as it hosts the seasonal face-off between horsey folk in pinks and those who regard them barbaric.

Marie Woolf, political correspondent. Whips are understood to be trying to calm furious Labour backbench MPs who have accused the Government of reneging on a pledge to ban hunting with dogs.

Leader. The Independent argues that it is wrong to criminalise things people do simply because lots of other people - possibly even a majority - disapprove of them. There are signs that the public is more open-minded than simple opinion polls suggest. When presented with the "balance of cruelty" argument, support for a total ban falls sharply.

Mark Rowe. "We're not going to say 'oh dear', shoot our hounds and sit down with a good book. There will be gross civil disobedience."

Marie Woolf, chief political correspondent. Ministers are said to be enthusiastic about a compromise suggested by Michael Foster, the leading anti-hunt campaigner and Labour MP for Worcester. He wants a complete ban on hare coursing, a ban on cubbing (the practice of setting hounds on young foxes at the start of the season) and more categorical assurances on bans on hunting in lowland areas.

Jackie Ballard, director general of the RSPCA, calls on Tony Blair to give in to his backbenchers and make all hunting of mammals (as opposed to fish and birds) illegal immediately.

Warren Hoge. For country dwellers who see their concerns, communities and livelihoods being overshadowed by dominant urban interests, the fox hunting issue has become emblematic. The Countryside Alliance has cast its position as one of protecting minority rights against a domineering majority, and as the last defense against prohibitive action that would end up outlawing all country sport. USA.

Will Buckley. Attending a coursing trial in East Anglis, the author decides it is an acquired taste, not particularly for him, but that is no reason to outlaw it.

Gaby Hinsliff, chief political correspondent. The Government admits the only way of telling whether rules have been broken will be by animal welfare workers, many of whom may have clashed with local hunts in the past, volunteering to follow meets and spy on any misdemeanours.

Mark Townsend. A concerted campaign of major disruption is being planned by pro-hunt militants following last week's protests outside Parliament, although the Countryside Action Network is against any strategy that involves violence and criminal damage.

Claire Gardner. The new Protection of Wild Mammals Bill which which allows hunting but insists on foxes being shot rather than killed by hounds has resulted in 250 dead foxes since August, compared with 140 in 2000. Hunts also claim a large number of foxes have escaped with serious injuries after being hit by gunshots and not killed outright.

Rural Affairs minister Alun Michael is expected to make a statement to MPs about hunting with hounds. It is not clear whether he will unveil plans for a second Hunting Bill or if he will instead announce the results of a consultation held in September when experts were invited to give evidence on the traditional country sport.

Max Hastings, president of the CPRE. Field sports must stand or fall on the principle that the pursuit of the birds and beasts of the field is one of the oldest and most natural human activities. As soon as anyone starts to measure "cruelty", the cause is lost, above all in the case of coarse fish, tormented by rod and line before being returned to the water to suffer the same ordeal again and again.

Richard Savill. The pursuit is part of the culture, the social and economic life of the region.

George Jones and Andrew Sparrow. Demonstrators staged a noisy sit-down protest, bringing chaos to Parliament Square as MPs debated a Government Bill.

Daily news from the UK, business news, countryside news, UK technology news, obituaries and UK education news - telegraph.co.uk, UK online newspaper.

Andrew Sparrow, political correspondent. Mr Michael is likely to push this Bill through the Commons only if he wins the support of many pro-hunting MPs, mainly Tories, and if some of the MPs who voted for a total ban in the past change their minds.

A show of support by Mr Blair and Cabinet members for the compromise could sway many Labour backbenchers, particularly younger, more ambitious MPs, who might want to demonstrate that they were backing the Government line.

George Jones and Charles Clover. Tony Blair was facing open revolt in the Labour Party last night over a compromise proposal to allow foxhunting under certain conditions. Labour MPs described as a "fudge" the new Hunting Bill which would outlaw hare coursing and stag hunting in England and Wales but would let foxhunting continue if it were given the go-ahead by an independent registrar. Ratting and rabbiting with dogs would also be allowed.

Boris Johnson. The whole thing reeks of bullying and cowardice; and, in that, the hunting Bill is consonant with almost everything else that Labour does. If Labour had any principle or logic, it would treat hunting the same as halal butchery, and hares the same as rabbits. It does not.

Daniel Foggo. The British Deer Society is calling for an independent inquiry into allegations that the League Against Cruel Sports, the anti-hunting animal welfare group, is neglecting deer on its sanctuary on Exmoor.

The Hunting Bill will start its committee stage on Jan 7. Of the 32 MPs on the committee it is understood that 20 back an outright ban, 10 support the status quo or the middle way, and 2 are keen supporters of the Government's plans.

Leader. Coarse fishing has no "utility" whatsoever and may cause pain and distress to the fish. On the Michael test, it is far less easy to justify than any foxhunting. And it is done by two million people, most of whom are Labour supporters. The Government's hook is caught in the seat of its own pants.

Charles Clover, environment editor. Alun Michael claimed there was incontrovertible evidence that deer hunting is cruel. Simon Hart of the CA points out that "this evidence has not been published, as he said it would be, which is worrying." Others have remarked that it is curious that Mr Michael should have said the evidence against hare coursing was incontrovertible while the evidence in favour of the control of rabbits and rats with dogs was incontrovertible too.

Richard Savill. Paul Richardson denied the Sunday Express article that the Beaufort Fox Sabs plan to knock Prince William off his horse the next time he rides to hounds.

Richard Alleyne. Proceedings of the hearing at Bow Street magistrates' court in central London for the four protesters charged during the demonstration outside Parliament over the Hunting Bill.

Charles Clover, environment editor. Representatives of Britain's four million fishermen and shooters said they were concerned about what would happen if the tests of "utility" and "least suffering" were extended to their sports, both of which are done largely or solely for pleasure.

Leader. It is fair to say that, if the principles of avoiding cruelty and recognising utility that the Bill enunciates were pursued in good faith by the proposed registrar, the great bulk of hunts and most forms of hunting would survive. That good faith is called into question, though, by the Government's declaration that it will definitely ban hare-coursing and stag-hunting, because they fail the tests, and permit rabbiting and ratting, because they pass them.

Charles Clover, environment editor. Under pressure from Britain's three million coarse, game and sea anglers, and led by Martin Salter, the Government's spokesman on shooting and fishing, Labour backbenchers are backing amendments scrapping the tests of "utility" and "least suffering" against which the Bill says any form of hunting should be judged. In parts of Germany controlled by the Greens, British troops were told they would have to kill everything they caught as only fishing for the pot was morally justified.

Charles Clover, environment editor and Benedict Brogan, political correspondent. A NOP poll, conducted for the Campaign for Hunting between Dec 13 and 15, found that only 36 per cent of the public want hunting with dogs abolished, despite the determination of most Labour MPs to push through an outright ban.

Charles Clover, environment editor. Although Mr Michael made explicit undertakings that the Government had "no intention whatsoever of placing restrictions on the sports of angling and shooting" devotees of those sports will be casting an uneasy eye over his statement this morning to see if it sets a precedent for banning them in the future.

Neil Tweedie and Stewart Payne. Lord Hesketh and his butler, who had been handing out stirrup cups, intervened with two estate workers to block their way when half a dozen protesters dressed in camouflage attempted to force their way up the steps leading to the front entrance of the house.

Auslan Cramb. Only one of the 10 Scottish hunts has disbanded. The rest are killing more foxes than ever. Richard Holman-Baird, of the Kincardineshire hunt, said: "So we are eradicating the fox population in these areas instead of getting rid of the weaker members."

Charles Clover, environment editor. Plans to make grants to prescribed animal organisations, hidden in the small print of the Bill, aroused fierce criticism last night from Opposition MPs and from hunts, which will have to pay to be registered under the Bill to use dogs for pest control.

Richard Savill. Yesterday, villagers in Exford still believed they could block any ban with a determined fight. However, there was deep-rooted anger about the potential economic consequences if the ban on stag hunting goes ahead.

Richard Savill. Tom Yandle, chairman of the Master of Deerhounds Association, said, "We should have the same opportunity of getting licences and fulfilling the Government's principles of utility and cruelty as any other pack of hounds hunting foxes or hares."

Michael Kallenbach, parliamentary correspondent and Frank Johnson, Commons sketch-writer. Summaries and soundbites from MP's and ministers.

Michael Kallenbach, parliamentary correspondent. Clips from speeches by MPs during the Second Reading debate of the Hunting Bill in Commons.

Boxing Day hunts were held in Scotland despite Mike Watson's law, while LACS held its biggest protest in Winslow, England. Actress Annette Crosbie, the new president of the League, said: "Protesting is unfortunate, but reason and logic doesn't get you anywhere."

Leader. Were the Prime Minister truly concerned with animal welfare, he would ignore the opinions of Labour voters and mount a campaign against angling, he would antagonise the food industry by taking a stand against battery farming and he would brave the wrath of the multiculturalist lobby by pointing out that the suffering caused by halal and kosher slaughter practices is greater than that inflicted on the fox by the huntsman.