BRITAIN’S PRO-FOX-HUNTING MARCH drew over 400,000 people according to this AP report:

LONDON (AP) – To the blare of hunting horns and the shriek of whistles, about 400,000 people marched through the streets of London on Sunday to support fox hunting and the rural way of life.

The march, billed as Britain’s largest civil protest in 150 years, drew farmers, gamekeepers, and hunting enthusiasts with a clear message for Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“Blair, ban hunting and we will boot you out,” read placards held by tweed-clad demonstrators as they marched 20 abreast through the streets, bringing much of the city to a standstill.

“We are here to show Mr. Blair that we won’t go away, we won’t be quiet. He is talking about changing our way of life and that’s just not on,” said John Gammell, a gamekeeper from Yorkshire, northern England.

It must be highly embarrassing to the anti-war crowd that they can’t put any significant number in the streets to protest action against Iraq, while pro-fox-hunters can get nearly half a million. To be fair, I think this goes beyond just fox-hunting, and constitutes a response to a lot of so-called “Transnational Progressive” ideology, though I suppose the antiwar folks won’t take much comfort from that. Expect to hear more about this from the folks at Samizdata, though at the moment they appear to be marching, not blogging. Or more likely, knowing them, they’re recovering from their exertions at a pub.