THOUGH officially neutral, the government will, in the light of the mammoth countryside demonstration at the weekend, no doubt welcome the all-party move today to end the political row over fox-hunting.

But it must tread carefully.

For though it has been patently jolted by the vocal multi-issue uprising in the shires triggered by the parliamentary threat to hunting t

perched on- to the extent that it now makes conciliatory noises towards the pink-coated fraternity - it does not yet know the full strength of the anti-hunting voice in Britain.

But if opinion-poll responses and the clear support in the Commons for Labour backbencher Michael Foster's Private Member's Bill to outlaw hunting with dogs are a guide, there is strong evidence that the country, in contrast to the countryside, wants fox-hunting banned.

And this is where the government, perhaps still somewhat naively believing it is possible to please everyone, might trip up as all-party efforts to forge a compromise solution coincide with the impending collapse of Mr Foster's Bill. For, though due for a Third Reading debate on Friday, his Bill is destined to fail as the government will not allow it parliamentary time.

Couple this with ministerial talk of "conciliation" on hunting preluding the all-party effort, led by Labour MP Kate Hoey, to find a "middle way" formula to satisfy the pro and anti-hunting lobbies and the government is in danger of both losing its neutral veneer and of being blamed for the failure of the Bill - in short, risking the political backlash from the anti-hunting crowd and discovering how big and vocal it is and perhaps suffering a damaging backbench revolt from Labour MPs who are virtually all opposed to hunting.

And, after all, the neutrality stance, now wearing thin, was always on shaky foundations with Downing Street having, we are told, privately pledged last November that hunting would be outlawed in a Criminal Justice Bill.

Thus, while conciliation and compromise might be suddenly aired to appease the clamorous pro-hunting countryside, Labour may soon be hounded by an angry, let-down anti-hunting country and have hordes of its own MPs baying for amendments to the government's law and order legislation to bring in a ban after all.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.