'Three in four' adults against making fox hunting legal

Almost three in four British adults are against making fox hunting legal, a poll has suggested.

The poll, conducted by ComRes for the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show, asked 1,005 people if the practice "should or should not be made legal again?".

Hunts are currently allowed in England and Wales for pest control as long as the fox is shot and a maximum of two dogs are used.

MPs will be asked on Wednesday whether to permit the use of more hounds.

This would bring the legislation into line with Scotland, where an unlimited number of dogs can be used.

SNP group leader Angus Robertson said the party's MPs will vote against the legislation to send a message to the Conservative government about the narrowness of its majority.

It has been a criminal offence to hunt down and kill a fox with a pack of hounds since 2005.

'Age difference'

The telephone poll suggested 74% of people were against fox hunting being made legal, with 20% in favour. The rest said they did not know.

The results indicated women were more likely to oppose making fox hunting legal than men, by 78% to 69%.

They also suggested a difference in age as to how fox hunting is viewed. Eighty-four per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds were against the practice becoming legal, it suggested, compared with 63% of over-65s.

Overall, 7% of those asked said they did not know. The poll was conducted over the past weekend.

MPs are expected to debate on Wednesday whether to bring existing practice in England and Wales into line with that in Scotland.

Since the ban on hunting with dogs came into force in 2005 under the last Labour government, hunts in England and Wales have been able to flush out foxes and certain other animals for pest control purposes as long as they are shot as quickly as possible.

But they are restrained to a maximum of two hounds, whereas in Scotland there is no limit.

This has resulted in fox hunts continuing in Scotland, where the hounds are used to flush out foxes with the intention of shooting them.

The Conservative government has said it will give its MPs a free vote on the issue, meaning they will not be forced to follow the party line.

Labour is to oppose the changes, and has called for the support of the SNP in a letter to the party's Westminster leader Angus Robertson.

Watch Victoria Derbyshire weekdays from 09:15-11:00 BST on BBC Two and the BBC News channel. Follow the programme on Facebook and Twitter, and find all our content online.