HUNTING with hounds ignites the sort of passionate debate rarely witnessed in Britain. Now MPs have the chance to ban it - so we can expect a period of intense political campaigning.

Britain has already witnessed the remarkable ability of the pro-hunt lobby to drum up mass support for its cause. Thousands of angry country residents twice marched on London to warn ministers not to mess with their right to hunt.

Ministers have ignored them. A Bill will go before Parliament seeking reform of the blood sport. It outlines three options, one of them a complete ban.

MPs should be prepared for a heavy postbag. Already the war of words has begun. The Countryside Alliance, covering all the bases, called a ban "illiberal, illogical, legally unworkable and unenforceable".

This is a reasoned argument, which is more than can be said for the defiant stance taken by local hunt leaders. Members of both the Derwent and Sinnington Hunts have said they would break any new law that banned hunting.

"I, and others, would do it whether it was against the law or not," said the Master of the Sinnington Hunt, Adam Waugh. A ban would "essentially make criminals of people for the way they live".

This is not a helpful stance to take. It suggests that hunt members are above the law, which will only reinforce their reputation as arrogant and aloof.

Extending Mr Waugh's argument, a yob could argue that he intends to continue his anti-social ways because the Government's crackdown on yob culture makes him a criminal "for the way I live".

Hunt leaders feel they have a strong case, and they are free to pursue that as intensely as they wish through the democratic channels.

But the belligerent rhetoric of Mr Waugh and others does their cause no favours. They should get off their high horse if they wish to remain in the saddle.