(source: I.O.L. South Africa)

London - Fox hunting could be outlawed across Britain after hundreds of years as parliament votes on Wednesday to ban it against a backdrop of deafening street protests and political wrangling.
The ancient countryside pursuit has long inflamed passions, denounced as a barbaric bloodsport by its opponents but defended as an essential part of rural life by its supporters.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government pledged to outlaw hunting with hounds when it took power in 1997 but fierce opposition has repeatedly stalled legislation.
Blair, whose authority over his Labour Party has been eroded by the Iraq war, is now determined to push through a ban before an expected general election next year.
The move should placate Labour parliamentarians (MPs), who overwhelmingly support banning a pastime many see as an elitist relic of feudal times.
But it has outraged hunt supporters, who on Wednesday blew horns and shouted "No Ban" at a mass rally outside parliament.
"Hunting and country sports play a large part of my life and I think it's appalling the government should play politics with people's lives," said Guy Galpin, 45, from Somerset in southwest England, handing out "No Ban" leaflets.
"It's been shown time and time again to be the least cruel method of fox control," he added.

Fox hunting has been practised in Britain for more than 300 years, its classic image that of red-coated hunters blowing horns as they race across the countryside on horseback.
Several thousand hunting supporters descended on London to argue a ban would infringe their civil rights. They say they provide a service to farmers who see foxes as vermin that kill chickens and lambs and that hunting supports thousands of jobs.
"Why ban hunting? Ban shooting them, yes, but not hunting," said Gordon Jackson, 50, a farmer from Cumbria in northwest England.
The one hunt he goes on a week supports 80 jobs, he said.

But a handful of opponents waved their own placards on Wednesday, calling hunting an inhumane sport.
"I just hate animal cruelty," said Hazel Clark, 68, from London. "I can't understand why no one mentions the hounds and the horses and what they go through - not only the foxes."
Two years ago, parliament's elected House of Commons, where Labour has a huge majority, voted to outlaw hunting in England and Wales but peers in the unelected and largely pro-hunting House of Lords blocked it.
Scotland has already banned hunting with dogs.
The Commons is expected to vote on the bill late on Wednesday night but it must then return to the Lords. The government is threatening this time to use the Parliament Act, a device to overrule Lords' opposition and force a bill into law.

As an olive branch to the pro-hunt lobby, the government is offering to delay the implementation of a ban until July 2006. That would allow hunting dogs to be rehomed and businesses to adjust to offer different pastimes, the government says.
Opponents say the government's motive is to take the sting out of the issue before an election. Images of hounds being shot and jobs scrapped could damage Labour's electoral chances.
The opposition Conservative Party has pledged to overturn a ban on hunting if it gets into office.