Sir Christopher Chope Tells LBC He Didn't Know What Upskirting Was When He Objected To Ban

18 June 2018, 08:59 | Updated: 18 June 2018, 11:09

Sir Christopher Chope insists he should be congratulated for his objection to the upskirting bill as it will become law sooner - but Nick Ferrari told him his actions are indefensible.

The Conservative MP was the only member to object to the Private Members Bill to make taking photos up women's skirts a specific criminal defence, meaning it now has to be debated by parliament.

Nick told him there is nothing to debate about whether it should be illegal and was aghast to discover that Sir Christopher had not even heard of upskirting when he objected.

Sir Christopher insists he objects to all similar bills on principle as he disagrees with the idea of laws being passed without proper scrutiny and debate.

But Nick told him: "What debate needs to be had? In this instance, there can't be a valid reason not to ban it. It could have gone through save for you."

The Tory MP said: "No, it wouldn't have gone through. What would have happened is that it would have had a second reading without any debate. It then would have gone in the queue for other Private Member's Bills to be considered in committee.

"The first responsibility of the government if they're concerned about the issue, as I am, is to bring forward its own bill, which is what is going to happen.

"We should be welcoming this. As a result, the government is going to bring forward its own bill and that bill will get proper scrutiny and get on the statute books sooner than if the government had tried to rely upon abusing the Private Member's Bill procedure.

"This should be a cause for celebration, rather than recrimination."

Sir Christopher insists he wasn't familiar with upskirting before the objection and a surprised Nick said: "My listeners will be puzzled that you would object to something you don't understand.

"Morally, I think what you've done is indefensible."