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Theresa May will today stage a humiliating official U-turn over her bid to bring back fox hunting.

She will admit there was a "clear message" the public don't want the cruel bloodsport brought back - despite her offering MPs a vote to do so in the general election.

Campaigners are likely to hail victory after the Prime Minister launched her latest screeching U-turn.

We first revealed her bid to bring back the bloodsport, which was said to have helped deny the Conservatives a majority at June's general election.

Pressed by the Mirror during the campaign, Mrs May said she was a fan of hunts and wanted to give MPs the choice to revive them after more than a decade.

But after losing her majority, she knows she could lose any Commons vote.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: AFP)

Mrs May is due to tell the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: “I've not changed my personal view. I've never fox hunted as it happens.

"But as prime minister my job isn't just about what I think about something, it's actually about looking at what the view of the country is.

"I think there was a clear message about that.

"And that's why I say there won't be a vote on fox hunting during this Parliament.”

The ban was introduced by Labour in 2004 and hunting with dogs has been illegal ever since.

(Image: Getty)

A 2017 petition to keep the ban was signed by nearly 800,000 people.

And polls have shown around three-quarters or more of Brits are against bringing back the bloodsport.

Labour's Hunting Act did not end traditional hunts, who now follow a scent trail instead of a fox, or work around loopholes in the law.

May’s predecessor David Cameron also promised Parliament a vote on repeal but had to scrap it after the SNP vowed to block it, even though it does not apply to Scotland.

Several Tory MPs are known to oppose fox hunting, enough to deal Mrs May a defeat in any Parliamentary vote because her majority is so small.

MP Sir Roger Gale of Conservatives Against Fox Hunting said Parliament has “more than enough to occupy” its time without arguing about hunting.

An aide made clear the next Tory manifesto would be unlikely to offer a vote on hunting.

"We want to focus on issues that matter most to people - building more homes, continuing to raise school standards, investing in the NHS and delivering a good Brexit," the aide told the Sunday Times.

League Against Cruel Sports campaigns deputy director Chris Pitt said: “It appears that the Government now accepts that cruel sports should no longer be a part of 21st Century society so it’s good to know they won’t try to legalise it again in this Parliament – though they may try again in the next.

(Image: Trinity Mirror)

“The Government has recently pledged to recognise animal sentience and introduce tougher sentencing for animal cruelty so it would make no sense if the Hunting Act was to be repealed – hunting is a barbaric practice which still sees British wildlife being torn to pieces by packs of hounds.

“Recent polling showed that opposition to hunting in the UK remains at an all-time high of 85%, so it’s clear that this pledge will be popular with the public.

“Despite what the hunts say, it’s not only the ‘townies’ who oppose blood sports but people in the countryside too, with more than eight out of ten people in rural areas in support of keeping the ban on fox hunting.

“We hope all MPs now recognise that animal welfare is something which all British people feel very strongly about.

“We also hope that this isn’t a tactical political move designed to win votes – Theresa May says that she still personally supports fox hunting, so will be having this discussion again in a couple of years?"