These 'awkward squad' Tory MPs are being very busy bees

Meet Christopher Chope, the Conservative MP for Christchurch.

He is a member of the Tory awkward squad (sometimes likened to dinosaurs, or just dubbed the 'bastards'), a cluster of Eurosceptics who have been a thorn in David Cameron’s side since he became party leader and more so since he became PM. And they show no sign of stopping, especially now the Tories have a majority.

Since 1 May 1997 Chope has rebelled on approximately 6.5 per cent of votes - 213 out of 3,278 to be precise – and increasingly as his career in parliament has gone on.

He’s voted against paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability, and in the 2010–2015 parliament he rebelled in 18.9 per cent of the votes.

Yesterday, Mr Chope presented 10 bills to parliament.

Yes, ten.

He presented each bill “supported by Mr Peter Bone, Philip Davies and Sir Edward Leigh”.

So who are they?

Peter Bone

Peter Bone, MP for Wellingborough, is known to quote Mrs Bone as the subject of his political wisdom – and the reasons for his many rebellions.

Under the coalition government Bone made an attempt to rename the August bank holiday as Margaret Thatcher Day, and has rebelled in 190 out of 2033 votes (9.3 per cent).

Philip Davies

Davies objected to gay marriage, banning smoking in cars with children, and sending books to prisoners. He is basically un-whippable, having rebelled in 239 of 1989 votes (12 per cent).

Sir Edward Leigh

The MP for Gainsborough has rebelled 98 times out of 3,180, making him a lesser source of discomfort to Mr Cameron. He has strongly voted for raising VAT and for reducing welfare benefits.

On Monday, these honourable members presented ten bills to parliament which were as follows.

Illegal Immigrants (Criminal Sanctions) Bill:

If it’s anything like last time around (he’s been trying this since 2013), this bill aims to make any person who is present in the United Kingdom after 24 October 2015 without legal authority guilty of an offence, punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, and to a fine which in Scotland or Northern Ireland may not exceed £5,000.

Because people who come to Britain illegally have £5,000 lying about.

UK Borders Control Bill:

Much of the same as the above, and again Mr Chope’s tried it before.

The Bill aims to achieve that Parliament hold the sovereign right to decide who does or does not have UK citizenship.

The bill also hopes to repeal Section 7 of the Immigration Act 1988, which allows the Secretary of State to give leave to enter the United Kingdom for a limited period those previously not allowed to do so, among other things.

Benefit Entitlement (Restriction) Bill:

Again, he’s been trying this one for years.

The previous legislation said:

No non-UK citizen who is a national of a member country of the European Union or the European Economic Area shall be eligible for housing benefit or council tax benefit in England and Wales unless the benefit entitlement arises by reason of having the status of a spouse or dependant of a UK citizen.

We're beginning to think Mr Chope may not like illegal immigrants.

Convicted Prisoners Voting Bill:

As a previous bill with the same title, presented by Mr Chope, would suggest, this bill will aim to ban prisoners from voting.

Because prison is solely about punishment and stripping of rights, not reform, isn’t it?

Working Time Directive (Limitation) Bill:

Mr Chope also wishes to make changes to EU law which gives a right to the minimum amount of holidays, rest breaks can claim and caps excessive night work.

They wish for the “working time” definitions to not apply to doctors and health professionals, any time spent by an employee on call, and for provisions to not apply to the calculation of entitlements to holiday and holiday pay, bonuses and overtime.

Also, time spent in travelling to and from or between a place of work and time spent by employees overseas.

Other Bills:

These fine gentlemen have also presented bills to change the voting procedure of European elections, restrict offshore wind farms, limit the number of peers entitled to vote in the House of Lords, and expand eligibility for overseas voter registration.

Mr Chope also feels strongly about bats (yes, bats). His, arguably finest, bill was to:

make provision to enhance the protection available for bat habitats in the non-built environment and to limit the protection for bat habitats in the built environment where the presence of bats has a significant adverse impact upon the users of buildings.

BATS

Speaker John Bercow responded pithily to all these bills:

As I have had occasion to say to the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) in a previous Parliament, he will be a very busy bee.

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