A mounted huntsman stands waiting at the Old Surrey Burstow West Kent Hunt. Photograph: Ian Waldie/Getty
The Countryside Alliance may feel more hunted than hunter today but its website shows it's not about to give up the chase just yet. Its "come and greet ministers" page reveals the prime minister's movements today, with helpful directions to Windsor Castle, should anyone want a word with Mr Blair as he pitches up for tonight's state banquet for Jacques Chirac. They'd have to make sure they don't cause too much fuss, however. A (gentle) click on the "Civil Disobedience" page lets those who plan to disobey know the CA will "offer and organise (non-financial) support at their time of trial", so long as "in the execution of their principles they do not inconvenience the public".
Over in the pro-fox camp, the League Against Cruel Sports admirably tries to make real-time sense of the latest amendment debates in the House of Commons. But not to be outdone by the CA, it calls on its supporters to come out and protest – again "peacefully" – at Boxing Day hunts next month.
Meanwhile, after a few weeks being chased round the country, you'd think Boris Johnson would empathise with foxes. But a hunting ban, he reckons, is "ill-thought-out". "The police will want to show that [huntsmen] have been breaking the law, but how will they prove that there is a fox involved? They will assuredly have to catch the fox, and produce it in evidence. And how will they catch the fox? Why, with dogs, of course." And so he concludes that "the whole thing is mad". And who better than Boris to tell?
Adam Jay
