Owen Temple

Hows that for a catchy headline? The good news is that I know a number of you share my interest in this bill and have written to Hilary Armstrong MP urging her to back it. Sadly a check of http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=34826&SESSION=891 shows that she still hasn’t got round to it, though Kevan Jones MP of North Durham has responded to Derwentside’s appeal by signing.

I wanted to know how the bill had fared so I emailed Anne Snelgrove MP, the bill’s sponsor, to find out.

Here’s her reply:

“Dear Owen

Many thanks for your interest. Unfortunately the bill before mine was talked out by three Tory maverick MPs so I didn’t get a second reading. They also objected to my bill being nodded through to committee stage although I don’t believe they object to the bill itself. However, I have another chance on Friday 16 May as I have named this day as the new second reading day. As my bill is ‘part heard’ it should be on immediately after the Third Reading of Sharon Hodgson’s special needs bill. There wasn’t an opportunity for anyone to vote on the bill yesterday and as the Government has indicated it is now supporting my bill, it shouldn’t be necessary to have a vote in future. The Tory frontbench and the Liberal Democrats are also supporting it. However, it is notoriously difficult to get private members bills through the system as there are so many procedural issues that can trip them up, to say nothing of Tory mavericks like Christopher Chope, Nigel Evans and Philip Davies!