British parliament forces through ban on fox hunting

A law ending the centuries-old pursuit, the subject of furious debate in parliament for years, was only passed with the use of a rarely-invoked law overruling the wishes of the unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords.

The Parliament Act -- used Thursday for only the fourth time since it was introduced in 1949 -- allows the lower chamber, the House of Commons, to force a law onto the statute books single-handedly if the two houses of parliament simply cannot agree.