LONDON : The British goverment has negotiated a secret legal deal that will allow fox hunting to continue next year, despite a ban passed in parliament, The Times newspaper alleged.
The attorney general, Lord Peter Goldsmith, has agreed not to oppose any request for an injunction to the ban from the pro-hunting lobby group Countryside Alliance, the newspaper said.
The law banning the blood sport of fox hunting was pushed through parliament in November, and is due to come into force on February 18.
Commentators speculated widely that Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted the ban's enforcement to be delayed until 2006, since the volatile and divisive issue threatens to spill over into a general election expected in May next year.
Legal action against the ban is already before Britain's courts, while hunting supporters have threatened to follow up a long string of rowdy protests with acts of civil disobedience.
The chairman of the Countryside Alliance, John Jackson, told The Times the group's legal challenge would be heard by the High Court in London on January 25 and 26.
If the judges rule against it, the alliance is expected to apply for an immediate injunction that would keep the ban from coming into effect until the conclusion of the appeals process, The Times said.
Asked about the injunction, Jackson said it was "normal" to discuss such issues before the court hearing. "A decision by the attorney general not to oppose the injunction would, of course, be very significant", he said.
A spokesman from Blair's office said: "If the Countryside Alliance are mindful to take out an injunction, we are mindful not to oppose that."
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