Legislation against Female Genital Mutilation Debate

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Department: Ministry of Justice

Legislation against Female Genital Mutilation

John Bercow Excerpts
Monday 11th February 2019

(5 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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None Portrait Several hon. Members rose—
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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That is a difficult choice. I believe the hon. Member for Hendon is a doctor. Let us hear from the fella.

Matthew Offord Portrait Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
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Unfortunately, Mr Speaker, not a medical doctor.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The hon. Gentleman is a philosopher.

Matthew Offord Portrait Dr Offord
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That is correct.

I thank my hon. and learned Friend the Minister for making a statement today. I also welcome that she does not see a moral equivalence between brit milah and female genital mutilation. There is no moral equivalence between the two. I urge her to bring forward legislation as soon as possible, because I would like to hear the reasons why my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) opposed the Bill. I do not believe it is sustainable to say, “I objected to the Bill because of procedure rather than its content.” Let us bring forward a Bill as quickly as possible so that not only can we hear that defence but, more importantly, we can hear the will of the House by taking a vote on the issue.