BRITAIN: British Prime Minister Tony Blair last night faced the prospect of next year's general election being overshadowed by a hunting backlash as peers considered the "kamikaze" option of an immediate ban.
Members of the House of Lords are considering scrapping a proposed 18 month delay before implementing the ban to cause maximum difficulty and embarrassment to Mr Blair.
That would mean a fierce campaign of civil disobedience in the run-up to the election, expected in May.
Pro-hunting Labour MP Ms Kate Hoey said efforts were still ongoing to find a compromise as Parliament enters its final session. However, allies in the Lords signalled they were ready to opt for an "honest ban" that would come into force in just three months when the Bill goes before them for the final time today.
Lord Donoughue, a former Labour minister, told The Sunday Telegraph peers faced "an impossible and very painful choice".
"We either go with the three months, which rapidly destroys the livelihood of many people but does bring the matter honestly to a head and introduces the human rights issue," he said.
"Or we buy a little more time for huntsmen but leave them with no long-term future." The latter option "simply enables the Government to wriggle out of facing the consequences of its policies during the election campaign," he added.
Baroness Mallalieu, Labour peer and Countryside Alliance president, said: "There is a mood in the countryside that if we are going to be banned, get on with it.
"There is no rationale for the 18 months anyway."
The Commons has repeatedly voted for a complete ban on hunting but the Lords have put up a long campaign of resistance.