A few months ago I wrote about the behaviour of this disgraceful Tory MP following his actions to jettison a private members bill to make upskirting an offence. On that occasion the Government stepped in and took over where the private members Bill had been working which they had already made clear they would support. This time Christopher Chope has jettisoned a private members bill to extend the protection of young women who are at risk of Female Genital Mutilation. On the one hand this impacts a much narrower group of women, both in terms of their age (mostly) and their ethnicity. On the other hand FGM is a very serious matter which puts the lives and long term health of the children who are abused in this way at significant risk. The argument that Chope is opposed to private members bills is clearly wrong as he has introduced many himself and voted for others. The Conservative Party members of the Christchurch area are clearly deeply out of touch with the rest of the UK and indeed with the English language. Their website suggests:

“The Christchurch Conservative Association is a modern forward-looking Association of like-minded people from all walks of life rich, poor, young or old with a common belief that Conservatives are the right people to run our Country. We have an excellent Parliamentary Candidate, Sir Christopher Chope OBE, who has been the elected Member of Parliament for Christchurch since May 1997.”

“Being a member of Christchurch & East Dorset Conservatives means that you have joined the most open and democratic political party in Britain. After the first three months of your membership, you will be entitled to a vote in Party ballots. You will also have a chance to influence Party policy by letting us know your views.
Any person living in the United Kingdom is eligible to join the Conservative Party. Applicants are not required to be registered voters or UK nationals. There is no upper or lower age limit on membership, although children under the age of 15 cannot be enrolled as full voting members.
We must capitalise on this current resurgence, and strive for a larger, stronger and co-ordinated membership.”

If the residents of the Christchurch constituency are happy with the Conservative Association and their “excellent MP” then that is the end of the story, on the other hand if they believe that Chris Chope should act in a different manner, let us hope they will raise their concerns as a matter of some urgency as he is currently carrying out this sort of activity every few weeks and putting the lives of many people at severe risk.