Peter Hain said the government would force nothing through parliament, including a hunting bill, although they need to resolve the issue and end cruelty to animals.

Organisers said 37,000 protesters at 11 rallies on Saturday and one on Friday, to mark the first day of the new hunting season, signed a pledge to ignore any ban. Includes video clip.

Asked if the government planned to use the Parliament Act, Lord Falconer told BBC One's Breakfast with Frost he could not reveal what would be in this month's Queen's Speech.

Explaination of what may happen next in the move to ban hunting with dogs.

Speculation is mounting about whether Tony Blair will take on the House of Lords and force through measures to outlaw fox hunting.

Mike Wendling. Summarises the progress of the Hunting Bill so far, including the probable impact of the report by the parliamentary joint committee which ruled it fell afoul of Europe-wide human rights laws by not providing compensation.

Sarah Hall and Julian Glover. Using the Parliament Act to override peers and force through a hunting ban is certain to spark anger and maybe resistance to legislation removing the remaining 92 hereditary peers. Ministers will see any obstruction as a direct challenge, especially as an election nears, and the battle is bound to be bloody.

Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent. Tony Blair is being told by cabinet ministers to risk a confrontation with the House of Lords by forcing through a ban on fox hunting in the next parliamentary session.

Patrick Wintour. The cabinet will meet in a special session today ahead of the Queen's Speech with ministers yet to decide whether they will use the Parliament Act to force through a ban on hunting.

Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent. Reactions from government ministers on the ruling that plans to ban fox hunting breach European human rights law by failing to offer adequate compensation.

David McKie. Will the supporters of civil disobedience in the face of an unfair law, including the pro-hunters, be happy to apply the same principle to causes beside their own?

Zoe Williams looks at the actions ministers and the MPs, the lack of ethical consistency in the banning of hunting, and the odd tradeoff of supporting a hunting ban for supporting foundation hospitals.

John Jackson, Chairman of the Countryside Alliance, replies to David McKie's column about Gandhi's new disciples.

Debate still rages on whether the Parliament Act can be used to force through a ban on hunting, while Downing Street fears a showdown with the Lords. It could be reintroduced as a private member's bill.

Landowners and farmers have urged the Government to give Parliamentary time to Lord Donoughue's Bill to amend the Wild Mammals Protection Act, making it an offence intentionally to cause undue suffering to a wild mammal.

Andrew Grice, political editor. A prime ministerial aide said yesterday: "We know there are concerns on hunting. We are looking at different ways of addressing them."

Severin Carrell. Eye witness accounts of several fox-hunters pledging civil disobedience to defy a ban on their sport and explaining why.

Andy McSmith, political editor. Labour is planning to bring legislation forward to make fox-hunting, hare-coursing and stag-hunting illegal, when the pro-hunting majority in the Lords has been pared down by the removal of the hereditaries and the appointment of a new batch of life peers.

Marie Woolf, chief political correspondent. A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: "Those who are proposing civil disobedience need to understand that the police will take action."

SA. Describes the history of the government's hunting bill and its change from regulation to complete ban. South Africa.

Mark Townsend. More than 60,000 attended protest meetings at a dozen sites through out Britain, with the majority signing a declaration to continue hunting and risk a criminal record if Parliament passes a Bill banning foxhunting.

David Cracknell, political editor. A Bill outlawing hunting with hounds has been left out of this week's Queen's speech, but Downing Street may promise to back a private member's bill next year.

George Jones, political editor. Peter Hain, Leader of the Commons, yesterday promised "discussions" on ways of achieving a ban in the face of renewed opposition from the House of Lords.

Benedict Brogan, political correspondent. Downing Street has until the Queen's Speech on Nov 26 to decide whether to introduce a new Bill in the next session that could be forced through using the Parliament Act if peers try to block it.

Colin Brown and Francis Elliott. The Prime Minister and Peter Hain, in one-to-one meetings with some Labour MPs, promised to allow yet another hunting bill in order to stave off a humiliating defeat of Blair's foundation hospitals legislation.

Colin Brown, political editor. Ministers confirmed last night that the Hunting Bill will be reintroduced in the next session of Parliament, and they plan to use the Parliament Act if necessary to force the measure through. Includes slideshow of the first day of the hunting season.

Peter Hain, the Leader of the Commons, said, "We will have to find a way of ensuring that a ban on cruelty to animals, which was what the House of Commons voted for overwhelmingly and what the people supported in two general elections, is implemented." However Mr Hain did not say whether any new legislation would involve a total ban on hunting with hounds.

Graham Tibbetts. Lord Mancroft spoke to thousands of countryside supporters prepared to attend 12 mass meets today to demonstrate their determination to flout any ban.

Graham Tibbetts. The National Hunt fraternity, including jockeys such as Richard Johnson, is determined to protect foxhunting and its close relation point-to-point, which acts as a "nursery" for racehorses, riders and trainers.

Melissa Kite, political correspondent. The Hunting Bill will be left out of the Queen's Speech unless ministers can figure out a workable approach to the problem.

Philip Webster, political editor. The Government is dropping plans for a backbench Bill and will reintroduce the previous Bill. Tony Blair told ministers that the House of Lords must be confronted if it continued to frustrate the will of the elected Commons. Peter Hain claimed a ban would bring extra security, opportunities, democracy and greater economic stability.

David Charter, chief political correspondent. Now that it's a complete ban, MPs and peers on Parliament¹s joint committee on human rights have demanded clarification from Defra ministers on two key points before clearing the Hunting Bill of a possible infringement.

David Charter, chief political correspondent. Ministers were warned yesterday by the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights that the Bill to ban hunting with dogs would almost certainly face a court challenge for infringing human rights.

Patrick Barkham. A mother of two explains Declaration Day: "Can you really put this many people in prison? That was the point of it. There are some lovely old ladies who hunt and all our friends would be in prison with us so it wouldn't be too bad."

Tony Blair's attempts to ban hunting were plunged into chaos today because the controversial bill breaches human rights legislation, according to Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights.

Brendan Carlin, political editor, and Rob Waugh. Farming Minister Lord Whitty last night said that the Government still believed that there was no case for compensating people or businesses adversely affected by a ban, despite the ruling by the parliamentary joint committee.