Tory leader would quash hunting ban

Iain Duncan Smith said yesterday he would overturn a ban on hunting if the Conservatives were elected.

The Tory leader, who is to take his family on next month's Liberty and Livelihoods march in London, said he would "repeal any illiberal legislation" that Labour introduced.

Mr Duncan Smith accused the Government of waging a class war against supporters of hunting. He said a hunting ban would be an "absurd and bad law".

Speaking during a visit with his wife, Betsy, to the Buckinghamshire County Show at Weedon Park, Aylesbury, he said: "If there was to be an outright ban, an incoming Conservative government would make time to repeal any illiberal legislation."

The couple are planning to take part in the Liberty and Livelihoods protest march in London on 22 September.

Mr Duncan Smith does not hunt, although he fishes and occasionally shoots, but he opposes a ban on hunting on the ground that it would restrict personal freedom.

Up to one million hunting supporters are expected to march through the capital in protest at plans for a ban on hunting with dogs.

The Scottish Parliament has banned fox hunting and there is due to be a vote at Westminster during the next parliamentary session, when there is expected to be deadlock between the Lords and Commons.

The Tory leader has indicated that he would reluctantly vote for the "middle way" option, which would set up a licensing system for individual hunts and outlaw some "cruel" practices.

Mr Duncan Smith said he would back the option if, as expected, there is a stalemate between the House of Commons, which wants to ban hunting, and opposition to a ban in the House of Lords.

"My view is that this Government is not at all interested in a compromise," he said. "This is just a class war and it is about people on horses in red coats."

The Countryside Alliance said yesterday that it did not expect that a ban would be passed by MPs, but it welcomed Mr Duncan Smith's pledge to revoke it if necessary.

"We are not planning for hunting to be banned, but we are encouraged by his commitment to and support for what is an integral part of the social fabric and economic life of the countryside," said a spokesman. "This is not an issue of right and left, it is an issue of right and wrong – and banning hunting is wrong."