SNP vote plan sparks row

Cameron blasts ‘opportunism’ as fox-hunting move is blocked

David Cameron has attacked the SNP for its “opportunistic” position on foxhunting after he was forced to postpone a vote on relaxing the ban when the party decided to oppose the move.

The controversial vote, scheduled for today, 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 with just two in England and Wales.

But the SNP’s 56 MPs agreed 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 antihunting Conservative MPs, who have been granted a free vote on the issue, this was expected to be enough to block the change.

Nicola Sturgeon directly linked her party’s move to the Government’s plans for “English votes for English laws”, known as EVEL, which would give English MPs a veto over England-only legislation at Westminster.

Asked if he had been “outfoxed” by the Scottish First Minister, the Prime Minister told the Times CEO summit: “I would not quite put it like that.

“The position of the SNP has up to now always been clear which is that they do not vote on matters that are purely of interest to England or England and Wales. I find their position entirely opportunistic and very hard to explain in any other way.”

Mr Cameron defended the EVEL proposals – saying the only way to achieve” perfection” would be to create an English parliament and a fully-federal system – something which would not be right for the UK.

Asked if he might strengthen the current proposals in the wake of the SNP move, he said: “I am a believer in the United Kingdom.

“I want us to stay together as a United Kingdom and we have to recognise that England is a very large part of the total.

“You are never going to get total perfection. If you want total perfection in terms of English votes for English laws you would have to have an English parliament, a federal system.

“That is not what we are proposing. What we are proposing is relatively modest, it really is that you should not be able to legislate in the United Kingdom parliament against the wishes of English MPs. It’s a veto, a block, rather than a right of initiative. “I think that is right.” Number 10 had previously indicated that Mr Cameron intended to vote in favour of the reform.

The postponement of the vote was announced as animal welfare activists staged a rally outside Parliament against any amendment of the Hunting Act, which outlawed the hunting of wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales in 2004, two years after similar legislation in Scotland.