Proper procedure
The “object!” guy is at it again.
The MP who infuriated campaigners by objecting to a ban on upskirting has been heavily criticised after blocking another private members’ bill.
Sir Christopher Chope shouted “object” in a debate on laws protecting
childrengirls from female genital mutilation.His Conservative colleague, Zac Goldsmith, said his actions were “appalling” – Lib Dem Tom Brake said the MP had “reached a new low”.
Sir Christopher has argued his aim is to stop badly thought-out legislation.
He said he had not been objecting to the substance of the issue, but wanted to see all legislation properly debated.
Unfriendly observers point out that he doesn’t shout “object” at every opportunity; he chooses his targets carefully.
Last year he sparked fury when he objected to another bill to make “upskirting” a criminal offence in England and Wales – that became law last month, after the bill got government backing.
But his fellow Conservative Mr Goldsmith, who co-sponsored the bill, tweeted“please note that once again he did not object to those put forward by his friends”.
Among others criticising his actions on Twitter, were the Labour MP David Lammy, who suggested Mr Chope “embodies a brand of thoughtless, regressive conservatism which can ruin lives” while anti-FGM campaigner Nimco Ali said she had “nothing but disgust” for Mr Chope.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said on Twitter he was “very disappointed” that the bill had been blocked adding: “FGM is child abuse. I am determined to stamp out this despicable and medieval practice. We will do all we can to protect girls at risk.”
If Mr Chope will allow it.
Yeah, well, I guess that MP never has to worry about being subjected to FGM, so what’s he care? It’s just girls…and not his daughters or granddaughters, so why worry?
I mean, who could object to a bit of peeking up women’s skirts with a camera? And posting it online? All in good fun, am I right? Oh, and what’s the loss of a girl’s clitoris? What’s it good for, anyway? As long as the men are happy, why worry about the girls?
I’m on the verge of a rage reaction. Everybody stand back, it might be big enough to nuke the entire country (and those of you in Canada…and Australia, New Zealand, and England…might want to be on the lookout for fallout and seismic waves…)
Pity his aim was not to stop badly nominated MPs. He could have shown himself the door.
I should point out that what Chope was objecting to was a Private Members Bill. These aren’t introduced to parliament by the executive branch, but by ordinary MPs who are not in the Cabinet. There is a small amount of time set aside for discussing these bills, which means that unless a bill is widely sponsored by influential people, it doesn’t stand much chance of going through unless it is uncontroversial. It’s a way of bringing in bills that just need rubber-stamping without unnecessarily taking up Parliament’s time.
This bill, of course, is completely uncontroversial and there is no valid objection. But Chope objected anyway, as he did with the upskirt bill (also a PMB) and quite frequently does with others he has no stake in or haven’t been introduced by his friends.
His ‘reasoning’ is that more discussion is needed on the subject and that’s enough to get a PMB blocked. He doesn’t have to say what discussion is needed or why. It seems very much like his actual motivations are very much as they appear to be. He is apparently to be disciplined in some way, but it seems unlikely to amount to even a mild telling-off.
The good news is that it’s likely that an anti-FGM law will be brought in under the normal governmental bill route, but obviously that’s going to take a lot more time than it needs to and that depends on what priority the government gives it, which is unlikely to be high.