Who Killed the Vultures Bill?
It was not clear at the time which of three MPs – including two Conservative Party Whips, whose job it is to make sure MPs vote with the party line – shouted ‘object’ to block the bill. They were huddled together, but refused to admit which of them it was. But the effect was the same: there is now unlikely to be time to pass the bill before the general election.
On Friday morning, after campaigners around the country sent hundreds of emails overnight, and local campaigners held a demonstration in Shipley, Philip Davies MP confirmed that he had withdrawn his amendment, which we feared would sink the Bill.
But once the Private Member's Bills session began, it seemed that Christopher Chope, Conservative MP for Christchurch, was determined to make sure there was no time left for the Vultures Bill, speaking for over an hour on the Sunbeds Bill and speaking at length on the Local Authorities Bill. You can watch the video of what happened when the Vultures Bill was called here - skip forward to 14:31:22.
Overnight, the Independent has reported that Christopher Chope has admitted to shouting 'object'. But we are still concerned that Chope was acting with his party's support, despite previous statements from the Conservatives, not least at committee stage on Tuesday, that they support the Bill.
Although very disappointed, we are absolutely determined to make sure that there will be legislation on vulture funds within the next 12 months. But we need your help.
First we want to find out for certain who killed the vultures bill and ensure this does not represent official Conservative Party policy. Second, we want all parties to commit to introducing legislation on this issue within the next 12 months if they win the General Election.
Finally, we want to try and persuade the leader of the House of Commons to create extra Parliamentary time so that the current bill gets another chance. It’s a long shot, but if the Government supports this measure, they must pull out all the stops to make sure it happens.
READ THE CAMPAIGN LATEST >>