A vote to relax the fox hunting ban in England and Wales has been postponed after the SNP’s decision to take part in the division made a Tory defeat almost certain.
The controversial vote, scheduled for Wednesday, would have brought the law south of the border in line with that in Scotland, where an unlimited number of dogs can be used to “flush out” a fox to be shot, compared to just two in England and Wales.
The SNP’s 56 MPs agreed on Monday to break with their normal practice of not voting on England-only matters and join Labour in opposing the proposal. Together with a number of anti-hunting Conservative MPs, who have been granted a free vote on the issue, this was expected to be enough to block the change.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon directly linked the move to the Government’s plans for “English votes for English laws” (EVEL). And she warned that her party would be prepared to vote on other issues where Scotland is not directly affected in the months ahead.
Downing Street left no doubt that it was the SNP decision which prompted the delay in the hunting vote.
A source said: “This happened because Nicola Sturgeon has done a 180-degree u-turn. Her actions speak for themselves. That’s why we are in the position we are in.”
Number 10 had previously indicated that Prime Minister David Cameron intended to vote in favour of the reform.
On Monday evening, the SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson said the party hoped to send a clear message to the “arrogant” Government amid continued disputes over proposals to hand MPs south of the border a veto over English-only law.
Ms Sturgeon, who attended the meeting of the party’s MPs in Westminster where the decision was made, had in February specifically identified fox hunting as the sort of English-only issue on which they would not exercise their Commons voting rights.
“The SNP have a long-standing position of not voting on matters that purely affect England – such as fox hunting south of the border, for example – and we stand by that,” she wrote in The Guardian.
“Where any issue is genuinely ‘English-only’, with no impact on Scotland, the case for Evel can be made.”
But Mr Robertson issued a strongly-worded justification of the decision.
“We totally oppose fox hunting, and when there are moves in the Scottish Parliament to review whether the existing Scottish ban is strong enough, it is in the Scottish interest to maintain the existing ban in England and Wales for Holyrood to consider,” he said.
“We are in a situation where the Tory government are refusing to agree to any amendments to improve the Scotland Bill – which are supported by 58 of Scotland’s 59 MPs – and imposing English Votes for English Laws to make Scotland’s representation at Westminster second class.
“In these circumstances, it is right and proper on fox hunting by voting with Labour against the Tories’ proposals to relax the ban – in the process, reminding an arrogant UK government of just how slender their majority is – just as we will vote against the Tory welfare cuts next week, and appeal to Labour to join us.”
A Conservative source said: “Hunting is a devolved issue. The SNP’s decision to vote on a draft law that does not affect Scotland at all shows exactly why Conservatives committed in our manifesto to ensure laws that only affect England can only be passed with the consent of English MPs.”