Despite an invasion of the House of Commons, and a 20,000 strong protest outside Parliament (which turned violent, something which last year's anti-war demonstration, consisting of one million people, didn't. Funny that, considering how the Left are always portrayed as the ones who cause all the problems), the House of Commons passed a Bill to outlaw fox-hunting, by 356 votes to 166. The Government has also warned the House of Lords that if they try to reject the bill, the Parliament Act of 1911 will be invoked and the Lords will be overruled.
HURRAH!
It took them look enough. The Countryside Alliance would have you believe that fox-hunting is a tradition, a fine sport, and the only way to humanely control the fox population, and as such deserves to continue. Which is total bobbins. Even if being ripped to pieces by hounds is more humane than other methods (somehow, I'm not convinced), you don't go out on a fox hunt with the express purpose of animal control. They call it a sport. From Webster's 1913 dictionary, sport is defined as:
That which diverts, and makes mirth; pastime; amusement.
It's not animal control; it's a bunch of people getting on horses having a good time killing animals. And surely, we're beyond that sort of sport by now.
And tradition? Please. Tell me, if tradition is so important, then why are dogfighting, cockfighting, and badger-baiting banned? These also have a long history, but were banned long ago. Perhaps because they weren't protected by the aristocracy in the Lords, seeing as how they were "working-class" sports. If they can be outlawed, then I see no reason why the equally brutal fox hunts can't.
I feel sorry for the people that will lose their jobs, and I hope the Government will be able to provide assistance for either retraining them or establishing drag hunts (a hunt which uses an artificial scent instead), but I'm not sorry that their jobs are going.