KK wrote:An attempt to make upskirting a specific criminal offence in England and Wales has been blocked by one Conservative MP.
The government gave its support to a change in the law before it was brought to the Commons.
But Sir Christopher Chope, Member of Parliament for Christchurch and prominent supporter of Leave Means Leave, shouted "object" to the private member's bill.
The campaign for the bill against upskirting - when photos are secretly taken under a skirt - was started by victim Gina Martin.
In the Commons, MPs shouted "shame" after the intervention, stopping the bill getting a second reading.
The bill, brought to the House by Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, would have made upskirting a criminal offence in line with other voyeurism offences - meaning offenders could face a maximum of two years in prison.
It was expected to pass after the Ministry of Justice earlier showed its support.
But the rules in Parliament mean it only requires one MP to shout "object" to block a bill's progress
Wonder what he likes to do in his spare time...who knows, eh. Who knows.
Chope was chairman of the Thatcherite Conservative Way Forward group and used to be a barrister in the Chambers of Peter Rawlinson.
On 10 February 2009, he called for the minimum wage to be abolished. His Employment Opportunities Bill, which would, according to Chope, introduce more freedom to the job market and decrease unemployment, was backed by ten other Conservative MPs at the first reading, among them Edward Leigh, David Wilshire, Nigel Evans, Bill Cash and Peter Bone.
Later that year, in the expenses scandal, it emerged that Chope claimed £136,992 in parliamentary expenses in 2007/08. This included claiming £881 to repair a sofa.[6]
On 12 March 2010, he was responsible for the blocking of a bill to protect poor countries from "vulture funds", despite his party's support for the bill.[7]
In October 2010, Chope helped host a meeting of climate-science sceptics at Westminster.[8]
On 11 October 2011, Chope raised an eleventh-hour objection to the Hillsborough debate taking place because he believed a debate about MPs' pensions was more important. Cries of "shame" echoed around the chamber and Labour MP Jamie Reed said that the perpetrator should be "named and shamed" for raising the objection.[9]
Chope helped to lead backbench support for the motion calling for a European Referendum. He has also been heavily involved in the use of private member's bills to achieve this aim.[10]
Chope came under fire in January 2013 for referring to some staff in the House of Commons as "servants". Parallels were drawn between this opinion and his views on the minimum wage.[11]
Chope voted against the legislation for same-sex marriage in 2013.[12]
In June 2013 Chope was one of four MPs who camped outside Parliament in a move to facilitate parliamentary debate on what they called an "Alternative Queen’s Speech" – an attempt to show what a future Conservative government might deliver.[13] 42 policies were listed including reintroduction of the death penalty and conscription, privatizing the BBC, banning the burka in public places and preparation to leave the European Union.[13] The Daily Telegraph believed the whips sent Edward Leigh to try and persuade the group not to table the amendments.[13]
In December 2013 Chope objected[14][15] to the second reading of the Alan Turing (Statutory Pardon) Bill in the House of Commons. Because of this, the Government decided to act under the royal prerogative of mercy. On 24 December 2013 Queen Elizabeth II granted Turing a free pardon.[16][17]
On 28 November 2014 Chope, a private landlord, filibustered a Liberal Democrat bill with cross party support intended to make revenge evictions an offence.[18]
In 2014 Chope along with six other Conservative Party MPs voted against the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill which would require all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.[19]
He came under criticism in late 2014 for repeatedly blocking a bill that would ban the use of wild animals in circus performances, justifying his actions by saying "The EU Membership Costs and Benefits bill should have been called by the clerk before the circuses bill, so I raised a point of order".[20]
In October 2015, Chope joined fellow Conservative members Philip Davies and David Nuttall in extended speeches, known as a filibuster, against a private member's bill that would have placed restrictions on hospital parking charges for carers. Their actions caused the bill to run out of time.[21]
Chope was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for political and public service.[22]