THE Scottish Nationalists at Westminster have been called on by their Scottish Labour opponents to vote against scrapping the ban on fox hunting in England.
David Cameron has promised to give MPs a free vote on the repeal of the Act that banned fox hunting south of the border.
Up until now, the SNP has taken a self-denying ordnance that its MPs do not vote on so-called England only matters.
But Scottish Labour, which, following the General Election, only has one MP in the Commons, has insisted that the moral voice of the Scottish people does not end at Berwick upon Tweed and that the Nationalists, who have 56 MPs, must recognise that.
Sarah Boyack, Scottish Labour's Environment and Rural Affairs spokeswoman, said that "Scotland knows what is right and wrong" and called on the SNP to end its "confusion" on the issue of fox hunting in England.
"In the last 24 hours the SNP has gone from abstaining on the Tory attack on the hunting ban to Angus Robertson claiming that the decision hadn't been made because the details aren't clear. That simply isn't credible; the barbarism of fox hunting is clear for all to see."
Ms Boyack added: "Scotland's moral voice as part of the UK doesn't end at Berwick upon Tweed and the SNP must make clear they will vote against any bill which would repeal the hunting ban."
Earlier, Mr Robertson, who leads the SNP at Westminster, was asked if he and his colleagues would vote on repealing the Hunting Act. He stressed how his party was opposed to fox hunting and that it had helped introduce a ban in Scotland.
But he added: "SNP MPs still have to consider the legislation, which, of course, we haven't seen. We need to see it but, of course, we will be looking at it closely."
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