SUDDENLY, February 19, 2005, may not have the significance in the New Year calendar that it did a week ago. The Government has signalled its determination that the ban on hunting is not going to be allowed to threaten its re-election strategy.

Once again, the Government's attitude, and particularly the Prime Minister's, towards the Hunting Bill is laid bare. There is absolute no enthusiasm at the top for the ban.

Assuming the Countryside Alliance takes up the invitation to initiate the legal process that will delay implementation of the Bill for months, the confrontations that Mr Blair feared could derail the election campaign - or at very least be an unwelcome distraction - will not now take place. It's a measure of the respect and fear the Government has for pro-hunting campaign groups. It must be tempting for the Alliance to ignore Mr Blair's invitation and let the ban and the attendant ballyhoo proceed.

It can also be argued that the Government's action is unprincipled and utterly spineless. It hasn't been strong enough to stand up to its backbench MPs who fought for the ban and thus set the Parliamentary ball rolling. But it also doesn't fancy the consequences of the implementing the ban now it has passed into law.

Mr Blair probably thinks it is more important to avoid confrontation in the countryside in the run-up to an election than to be principled about the matter. That's politics, some may say. However, the whole affair has illustrated how weak the Prime Minister has become. It is a horrible mess and it is all of his making.