The legislation is pretty much immaterial. Loopholes mean that most hunts have been going out regularly since the ban, and doing so perfectly legally because they take a bird of prey with them. Hunting with birds is legal, you see...so if they get monitored, they can say the bird is doing the hunting and the dogs, horses etc are simply following the chase...

Like it or not, this is the current state of play, which is why the hunting brigade has not been more vocal since the ban. They have quietly been getting on with it while "townies" think that fox hunting has been halted.

I occasionally go out with one of my neighbours, hunting rabbits using hawks and ferrets. I would be lying if I said it wasn't fascinating to watch. If you are going to eat meat, in my opinion, it does you good to be willing to kill or at least clean it for the pot - not necessarily for every meal, but every now and again. If you can't cope with the fact that the meat on your table was once a living creature, I can't see how you can have any respect for it. We have become so divorced from what we put on our tables - but we don't have to be.