LABOUR opponents of hunting are furiously lobbying ministers to press ahead with a Bill banning the sport, amid fears that Tony Blair is preparing to defer it once again.

Ministers have told backbenchers that the backlog of parliamentary business after the hiatus caused by the war with Iraq means that there is little prospect of the Bill reaching its next Commons stage before the end of next month. That means that the House of Lords may not start to debate it until July, perilously close to the summer recess.

Although reforms introduced by Robin Cook, the former Leader of the House of Commons, mean that the Bill could be brought back in the next session, after the Queen’s Speech, the move would have to be approved by both Houses. With peers opposed to the hunting ban, they could easily forestall that option.

Ministers led by Alun Michael, who has responsibility for rural affairs, are attempting to persuade MPs not to scupper Mr Blair’s compromise on the sport with new amendments that attempt to ban it altogether.

As it stands, the Bill bans staghunting and harecoursing but allows some foxhunting under a special licence if there is a local problem with foxes and hunting is deemed to be the least cruel way of controlling the population.

Mr Michael accepts that the Bill will be toughened up during the report stage, but he is telling MPs that any moves to ban hunting altogether will be fiercely resisted.

A compromise formula is under discussion, with a ban on the hunting of fox cubs added to the Bill, along with a series of other anti-cruelty measures. In exchange the provision for licensed hunting would stay in. The Hunting Bill completed its committee stage at the end of February. MPs agreed to shelve it until after the war with Iraq.

John Reid, the Leader of the Commons, promised last week to treat the Bill with “the seriousness it deserved”. But he said that both houses faced “a pretty crowded programme”.

Clogging up the Lords’ agenda are the Communications Bill, David Blunkett’s sweeping Criminal Justice and Antisocial Behaviour Bills, legislation creating Foundation Hospitals and the Water Bill.

Meanwhile, the appointment of a new chief executive of the Countryside Alliance appears to signal a defiant mood from the organisation as it campaigns to save hunting with dogs.

Simon Hart, 39, a chartered surveyor, said: “This Bill is no longer a compromise or a middle way and is not a solution and I will not be afraid to stand up and say so.”

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