There will be an 'International Men's Day' debate in parliament after all

Tory MP Philip Davies' request for an International Men's Day debate in parliament has been granted.

Davies asked a backbench committee that allocates debate times to consider a debate focusing on men last month, which was initially shot down by Labour MP for Birmingham Jess Phillips.

As the only woman on this committee, it seems like every day to me is International Men’s Day.

Phillips subsequently received a barrage of online rape threats and the two faced off on The Daily Politics during a frosty five-minute interview.

Davies, who voted against gay marriage, describes himself as a keen proponent of 'true' equality.

The Shipley MP was originally told to get more cross-party support for the motion. Having secured additional backing from several Labour MPs and one woman, Tory MP for Telford Lucy Allen, the motion was approved during a committee meeting on Tuesday.

Speaking to BuzzFeed News, Davies said he hadn't anticipated the "hoo-ha" his request would cause.

I didn’t really think that I was asking for anything that was particularly controversial, to be honest.

I think these issues need debating in parliament. I think there’s lots of people who are affected by them who want to feel that people in parliament are speaking up for them... And hopefully it’ll encourage the government to take action on some of those issues that usually get ignored.

International Men's Day is November 19th. The campaign began in 1992 to draw attention to issues that disproportionately affect men such as suicide and shorter life expectancy, but has been hijacked by meninists over the years.

More: The abuse an MP got for saying we don't need an International Men's Day debate proves her point perfectly

More: Jess Phillips and Philip Davies discussed International Men's Day on the Daily Politics and it was very awkward