TWO men have been accused of suppressing people's rights and shackling their freedom. One is Saddam Hussein - the other is Pendle Labour MP Gordon Prentice!

Mr Prentice has been amazed to find himself compared to deposed and captured Iraqi dictator by the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance.

It has produced a pack of 54 playing cards of their "most wanted" list of anti-blood sport MPs - modelled on the deck identifying key people in the tyrant's former regime.

And Mr Prentice is amazed to find that he was the Ace of Spades in the Countryside Alliance pack - just as the Butcher of Baghdad was in the White House playing cards.

In their so-called "Pack of Prejudice," being sold by the Alliance for £4.95, he finds himself bracketed with former Tory Prisons Minister, Ann Widdecombe, who is made Queen of Clubs for being one of the few Tories opposed to hunting with hounds.

Mr Prentice has led the pressure for the Government to bring in its own legislation to ban hunting. And he has angered the landowners who play a large part in the countryside organisation by prompting Tony Blair to enact a "Right to Roam" over private land.

He said: "I suppose someone has got to be the Ace of Spades but it is nevertheless slightly chilling to be compared with an evil tyrant."

Mr Prentice, who opposed the military action to depose Saddam, added: "He killed thousands of his own subjects and other Muslims in neighbouring countries so it is slightly ironic to be branded as his opposite number in the UK by a group that wants to go on killing thousands of foxes, stags and hares."

A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said: "We made Gordon Prentice the ace of spades because he is one of the highest profile MPs opposed to hunting.

"He is very intolerant on countryside issues.

"There is no direct comparison to Saddam Hussein. We chose this as a good way to identify those MPs opposed to hunting and other countryside pursuits in the same way the Liberal Democrats distributed a pack of cards to try and ensure their 52 MPs were well known to the public."