MID Wales MP Lembit Öpik will join the David Davies Hunt tomorrow as part of a wave of protests against the hunting ban. With the ban coming into force today, hundreds of hunts are ready to meet in a show of defiance. The Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire opposed the outright ban and plans to attend the hunt with former Labour MP Baroness Golding. Mr Opik is co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Middle Way Group on hunting, which advocated a system of licensing rather than an outright ban. But the group's efforts failed after a last ditch attempt to challenge a decision by Parliament to ban the sport was rejected by Britain's most senior judges on Wednesday. Mr Opik said more foxes will suffer because of the Hunting Act. He added: "The Hunting Act is bad legislation - bad for animal welfare, bad for country people and bad for anyone who owns a dog. "The Commons defeated my bill that would have given basic protection to all wild mammals. They chose instead to pursue this prejudiced, unprincipled and unworkable measure." Mr Opik's Middle Way Group last week posted video footage of foxes being shot and snared to supporters of the ban, such as the League Against Cruel Sports. The group claims such killing techniques, resulting in greater cruelty to foxes than hunting with dogs, will be deployed more frequently when the ban takes effect. | 
