Chope: I support ban on ‘vulgar’ act of upskirting

A CONSERVATIVE MP who blocked a law to ban upskirting said he is not “some kind of pervert” and will support the measure if it is reintroduced in Parliament as a Government law.

Sir Christopher Chope prompted a backlash from his fellow Tory MPS after he single-handedly blocked criminalising the taking of upskirt photographs.

The 71-year-old MP for Christchurch in Dorset has now sought to clarify his opposition, which he said was based on procedural concerns.

He said he supported outlawing the “vulgar, humiliating and unacceptable” act of upskirting, and added: “The suggestion that I am some kind of pervert is a complete travesty of the truth.” In an interview published by the Bournemouth Daily Echo yesterday, the Tory grandee said he was acting on a long-held principle that has seen him oppose backbench Private Member’s Bills. Sir Christopher said he felt “a bit sore about being scapegoated” after he shouted an objection during the second reading of the Government-backed Voyeurism (Offences) Bill.

In a letter published in today’s Daily Telegraph, Sir Christopher said he had been “expecting the Government to bring forward a Government Bill in Government time” to ban upskirting.

Defending his decision to block the ban, he said he objected to the Government using the Private Members’ Bill process – which allows individual MPS to bring forward their own legislation – to pursue a change in the law.