Topical News Lessons

Find this information in the text as quickly as possible: 
1. 
How many people demonstrated outside Windsor Castle? 
2. 
How many hound packs are there in the UK? 
3. 
How many people do jobs connected with hunting? 
4. 
How many other people might have problems because of the ban on fox-
hunting? 
5. 
What is the name of the lower house of the British Parliament? 

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©
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2004 
Taken from the news section in 
www.onestopenglish.com
Parliament brings end to 700 years 
of hunting. 
Patrick Wintour
Last week the British Parliament decided to 
end almost 700 years of fox-hunting in 
England and Wales. Early next year it will be 
illegal to hunt foxes with dogs. Pro-hunt 
supporters immediately promised to protest 
against the decision and on the same day 
1,000 people demonstrated outside Windsor 
Castle where the Queen was meeting the 
French president, Jacques Chirac, and Tony 
Blair.
Mr. Blair wanted to delay the ban on fox-
hunting until after the next general election in 
the UK. Many people in the countryside want 
to continue hunting foxes but many people 
living in towns and cities are against it. There 
are 318 registered hound packs in England 
and Wales. About 8,000 people do jobs 
connected with hunting, and the ban might 
also cause problems for 15,000 to 16,000 
other people, such as hotel owners. Now the 
government and the police must prepare for 
the possibility of protests over the next three 
months.
There was a long debate in the British 
Parliament between pro-hunters and anti-
hunters. The government tried to find a 
solution and wanted to delay the ban until 
2006 or 2007. But some Labour MPs thought 
that the government was trying to avoid the 
promised ban on hunting. After a long 
discussion, the lower house of the British 
Parliament, the House of Commons, voted to 
delay the ban until July 2006.
But a few hours later the upper house, the 
House of Lords, voted against the 18-month 
delay. This meant that the House of 
Commons had to use an old law, the 
Parliament Act of 1949, to block the decision 
of the House of Lords.
Tony Blair said he was sorry about the result 
of the vote. He explained that he wanted to 
find a middle way between people with very 
strong opinions on both sides of the argument 
about fox-hunting. "There are people who feel 
very strongly that fox-hunting is an essential