As British lawmakers in their House of Commons were debating the vote on a ban of fox hunting today, Sept. 15, five pro-hunt protesters breached parliamentary security, burst onto the floor and confronted Alun Michael, the government minister. After a 30-minute delay on the House of Commons floor due to the disturbance, the lawmakers passed the bill banning fox hunting by a vote of 356 to 166.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair forced the bill through the lawmaking process, bringing to a head a debate that has torn the country apart for years.

Outside the building, 20,000 protestors marched against passage of the ban. Disagreements between marchers and police deteriorated into violence, tear-gas and arrests.

Simon Hart of the Countryside Alliance, the group most vociferously opposing the bill, said, in Horse & Hound, “The scenes of disruption in Westminster are unfortunate and unnecessary, but when the Labour party is destroying peoples