Theresa May '˜set to abandon free vote pledge on fox hunting ban'

According to the Sunday Times, the Prime Minister will in early 2018 announce plans to permanently drop the commitment to a House of Commons vote, in a move which would risk infuriating rural Tories.

A Downing Street source described the report as “pure speculation”, but reiterated the Government’s position: “There is no vote that could change the current policy on fox hunting scheduled in this session of Parliament”, which ends in 2019.

Michael Gove has prioritised animal welfare issues since Mrs May appointed him Environment Secretary after the June election.

But Jeremy Corbyn repeatedly criticised Mrs May for saying she was in favour of fox hunting during the election, which shattered the PM’s authority after the Tories lost their Commons majority.

The Tories had pledged in their manifesto to hold a free vote on a Bill in Government time to allow Parliament to decide the future of the Hunting Act 2004.

During a factory visit to Leeds during the election, Mrs May said: “As it happens, personally I have always been in favour of fox hunting, and we maintain our commitment, we have had a commitment previously as a Conservative Party, to allow a free vote.”

But the policy’s omission from the Queen’s Speech, which outlined the legislative programme for the current parliamentary session of 2017 until 2019, was the first indicator the plan had been put on the back burner.

The law, introduced by Labour in 2004, bans the use of dogs to hunt foxes and other wild mammals in England and Wales.