Supporters of fox hunting stormed Britain's parliament Wednesday and clashed with police in the streets, but failed to stop lawmakers from voting by an overwhelming margin to ban the blood sport.
Debate was suspended for 30 minutes after five pro-hunt protesters, in the first incident of its kind in modern times, burst into the House of Commons chamber -- the second dramatic security breach in London in three days.
"Clearly the intrusion was a carefully planned operation," said Commons speaker Michael Martin, adding that parliament was asking police to carry out a full investigation.
The five, wearing T-shirts depicting Prime Minister Tony Blair with devil's horns, were arrested -- while outside, riot police with batons and tear gas kept back 10,000 furious pro-hunt demonstrators hurling bottles and fireworks.
At least 19 people were injured in the melee, including a police officer, while a total of seven people were arrested, the Metropolitan Police said.
In a late-night statement, police said the five intruders, plus three others who failed to enter the Commons chamber, all aged 21 to 42, had been charged with violent disorder, burglary with intent to commit criminal damage, and "suspicion of uttering a forged instrument."
Despite the protests and after an afternoon of debate, MPs voted 356 to 166 in favor of legislation to ban fox hunting with dogs in England and Wales. The blood sport has been banned in Scotland since 2002.
They then went on to vote 342-15 for the ban to take effect in July 2006, enabling countryside dwellers whose livelihoods depend on fox hunting to find other means to make a living.
The legislation goes Thursday to the House of Lords, which has stalled previous attempts at banning fox hunting.
This time around, however, Blair's government has pledged to use special laws to overrule the unelected upper house to put the ban in place after years of controversy. But Wednesday was certain to be remembered as the first time that "strangers," to use a quaint parliamentary phrase, have invaded the Commons floor in modern times, and possibly since Charles I invaded parliament in 1642.
It occurred four months after Blair was hit by a condom full of purple-colored flour thrown from the public gallery, and two days after a protester dressed as Batman climbed onto a ledge at the front of Buckingham Palace, the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II.
Both stunts were the work of a fathers' rights group, but observers inevitably wondered what could have happened if hardened terrorists had been the perpetrators.
One of the five protesters was Otis Ferry, 21, Britain's youngest hunt master, news media reported. Ferry is the son of rock crooner Bryan Ferry, of the 1970s band Roxy Music.
Another, Luke Tomlinson, 27, is an Eton-educated top polo player and long-standing friend of Prince William and Prince Harry, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.
Martin, the Commons speaker, said a total of eight men gained access from parliament's main public entrance, St Stephen's Gate, using a forged letter inviting them to a meeting in a committee corridor.
Once inside, they were led to a stairway, "probably" by someone with a parliamentary pass, whipped off their jackets, then rushed doorkeepers who managed to stop only three of them.
Blair was not in the Commons at the time, nor did he vote on the ban.
Banning fox hunting has been simmering since the Labour Party took power in 1997, and came to a boil in September last year when more than 400,000 hunt supporters bore down on London for an unprecedented march.
Supporters insist the practice is an inalienable right in rural Britain, unappreciated by city dwellers, and a rural tradition which helps control countryside pests and provides thousands of jobs.
Opponents say it is both elitist and barbaric, with a pack of dogs tracking a live animal and then tearing it apart. Opinion polls suggest that a majority of Britons favor a ban.
The Commons has overwhelmingly adopted legislation to ban fox hunting before, most recently in June 2003, only to see it blocked in the Lords, which has deep roots in the land-owning aristocracy.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS