It was a bill with widespread support in the House, on an issue that virtually no one could object to: a move that would prevent “vulture funds” - i.e. bond speculators who prey on the world’s poor by buying up the debt of foreign countries at a reduced price and then suing the debtor countries for the full amount owed, including interest - from using British courts. Yet, in a tumultuous Commons session on Friday, a Conservative MP shouted “object!”, thus preventing the bill from reaching its third reading.

The MP responsible has refused to come forward. It was clear that the cry came from a small group of Conservatives in the chamber, but it is not clear which of them was the culprit. Sally Keeble MP, who had been steering the bill through Parliament, has suggested that the wrongdoer was Christopher Chope, who had spent two hours trying to ‘talk out’ the bill; however, Chope has denied responsibility and there has been much confusion in the House.

It is a disgrace that the objection of one MP should be able to kill a piece of legislation which would have helped millions in poverty. It was a bill that was enthusiastically backed by anti-poverty campaigners, as well as by Desmond Tutu and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The bill was running out of time and it is now highly unlikely that it will be passed in this current Parliament.

Several important political issues are raised here. The first is to do with parliamentary procedure. There is surely something unjust and undemocratic about parliamentary rules that allow a single shout of “object!” to delay consideration of a private members’ bill. This is reminiscent of recent events in the United States, where Senator Jim Bunning single-handedly blocked a 30-day extension of unemployment benefits.

Secondly, this event should be of concern to the Conservatives, who have been desperate to shake their image as the “nasty party”. Certainly, we should not tar the whole party with the actions of this MP; the bill had cross-party support and Conservative MP Nigel Evans was one of the more high-profile backers of this bill. However, these recent developments suggest that there remain unpleasant pockets of the Conservative Party, and Shadow Treasury Minister David Gauke, in contrast to his Labour and Lib Dem counterparts, was already less than enthusiastic about the measure. Douglas Alexander’s writing of a letter to David Cameron smacks of political grandstanding, but the Conservative leader, who has previously expressed his firm commitment to international development, ought to call out this MP if he wants to protect his image.

The government, however, does not come out of this scot-free, and this is the third point. As long ago as 2002, Gordon Brown told the United Nations that vulture funds were “morally outrageous”, yet only now are we seeing action. Furthermore, for an issue of such importance for so many, the government ought to have put this on the legislative timetable rather than relying on a private members’ bill, which is vulnerable to time constraints and to unfair parliamentary rules such as this.

Filed under: Uncategorized, poverty, ukpolitics on March 14th, 2010