a delay until 31 July 2007 won the support of only 46 MPs, although the delay until 2006 was inserted in the Bill. The Lords, who would have had to have accepted the Commons' other amendments (including the principle of a ban on hunting) and dues, rejected the proposal by 153 to 114. With the Lords and Commons unable to come to agreement by the end of the Parliamentary year the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, invoked the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, an infrequently used legislative device that allows the Commons to overrule the Lords where agreement can not be reached. The Hunting Act was only the seventh statute since 1911 enacted using these provisions. The House of Lords was criticised for undemocratically blocking the legislation; however, other newspapers and broadcasters condemned Tony Blair's Labour administration for giving in to what they perceived as the prejudicial views of anti-hunting Labour backbenchers. The act came into force on 18 February 2005, three calendar months after it received royal assent. Exempt hunting The Act exempts some limited forms of hunting believed to be necessary. Hunting with dogs is exempt from the Act if it falls within a class listed in Schedule 1, which may be amended by an Order made by the Secretary of State for the Environment. Schedule 1 of the Act specifies nine forms of hunting with dogs which are exempt, subject to conditions in each case: Stalking and flushing out Use of dogs below ground to protect birds for shooting Rats Rabbits Retrieval of hares Falconry Recapture of wild mammal Rescue of wild mammal Research and observation The Countryside Alliance has noted that "The Act makes it an offence to hunt a mouse with a dog but not a rat, you can legally hunt a rabbit but not a hare. You can flush a fox to guns with two dogs legally but if you use three it's an offence. You can flush a fox to a bird of prey with as many dogs as you like." Stalking and flushing out Traditionally, in some upland areas, foxes were flushed by packs of dogs to be shot. Stalking and flushing out are exempt under the Act, subject to five conditions: Firstly, the stalking or flushing out is for the purpose of preventing or reducing serious damage which the wild mammal would otherwise cause to livestock, to game