Iain Duncan Smith said yesterday that he would reverse any ban on hunting if he becomes prime minister.

Although any legislation repealing a ban on hunting would have to come from a backbencher, Duncan Smith made clear he would allow government time for the bill to progress.

The Telegraph says: "Where any law is seen to be unfairly repressive - as turning foxhunters into criminals unquestionably would be - it must always be a candidate for repeal. There are plenty of people who don't hunt and don't vote Tory who still see the force of that."

The government is likely to portray hunting as a largely irelevant in the debate about the rural economy in a bid to talk down next month's countryside march.