Saturday evening, and the phone rings again. Jack Straw is announcing a bill on Monday. A few of us are going to join a silent protest in Parliament Square. Good organisation enables the hunting community to punch above its weight. But there are no illusions about the odds against us.
People are afraid.
Not people like me who work for urban employers and can afford to ski if they don't hunt. I feel more jaded than fearful. No, it's the postman, the small farmer, the rural GP, the people who are always done over by governments who are afraid - and have been for a long time now. The strain of the phoney war of the past three years has been almost unbearable. I've seen a hunt secretary break down in tears as she introduced the hounds to a crowd at an agricultural show.