It is astonishing that Tony Blair has allowed his government to be browbeaten into involvement in the foxhunting debate.

Set against education, immigration, health, drugs, crime and all the rest of it, foxhunting is an utterly trivial pursuit involving a tiny minority of people who should be allowed to run their lives the way they see fit.

The combination of a ham-fisted nanny state and the class hatred of many of the more malevolent anti-hunt protestors is oppressive.

For what this weekend's march through London of between quarter and half a million country folk and supportive townies will demonstrate above all else is that class warfare in Britain is alive, well and thriving.

The marchers themselves will be a mixture of rich and poor, those who live and work in the countryside and those who genuinely care about its future.

The anti-hunting brigade who will also be out in force are something else. There are those who genuinely believe the whole practice of hunting is barbaric.

That is fine. It is a point of view. But without question, many of those who oppose hunting are motivated by class hatred, spite, vindictiveness and a dreadful ignorance.

They perceive hunting folk as the enemy - rich, bloated toffs arrogantly storming around the countryside who need to be dragged from their horses and taught a lesson.

The sheer nastiness of their anger is dreadful - as is their hypocrisy. They want cheap food in their supermarket trolleys. But in spite of their superficial concerns about the life and death of the fox, they care nothing about animal welfare.

They care nothing about the brutality that cattle, sheep and pigs endure in our abattoirs, the grotesque lives of battery fed chickens or the way live fish are hooked and gutted.

Would they give up beefburgers, chicken tikka masala or fish and chips in protest?

They expose the utter humbug of Blair's talk of a classless society in Britain.

They also expose the reality of New Labour's indifference to country matters, its lack of understanding of the meaning and value of country life.

For of course, the Sunday march is not just about the preservation of fox hunting.

It is about the loss of the schools, post offices, petrol stations, banks, public transport and affordable housing that make country living viable. Which is why it is called the Liberty and Livelihood March.

Like the majority of those who support the rights of country people to live their lives as they see fit, I do not ride or hunt and rarely even walk in the countryside. I am happy to be a seaside towny.

But I grow more and more alarmed at the way bigotry and aggression can make themselves heard so easily.

Freedom and civil rights are far too important to us all to be threatened by class hatred or political expedience.