Philip Davies

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Philip Davies is the Conservative MP for Shipley.

Contents

Religion

Cornerstone Group

Philip Davies is a member of the Cornerstone Group, a group within the Conservative Party that describes itself as believing in "the spiritual values which have informed British institutions, our culture and our nation's sense of identity for centuries, underpinned by the belief in a strong nation state."[1]. Their website includes articles on Conservative and Christian political issues.

Freedom of Religion

Philip Davies signed the March 2007 Early Day Motion 1770 supporting freedom of religion and welcoming the launch of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain[2].

Faith based Adoption Agencies

In 2007, Philip Davies signed Early Day Motion 742 calling on the government to exclude "faith based" adoption agencies from the Equality Act to avoid such agencies being forced to consider gay couples.[3]

Abortion and Sex Education

Philip Davies spoke in a House of Commons Debate of 19th July 2005 on Abortion Time Limits[4]. In his opening speech he stated that he "would not support an outright ban on abortion. It is not right to tell women in particular situations that they cannot have an abortion. How, for example, can we tell someone who has been raped that they must not have an abortion?". He went on to say that "Although I support abortions for people in particular situations, it is outrageous and morally wrong to accept the principle that it should be permissible to abort a viable baby. We will therefore always come back to the science." He then referred to Early Day Motion 516 which he had proposed earlier that month and which stated:

That this House calls on the Government to reduce the current limit of 24 weeks for abortions to 20 weeks, acknowledging advances in medicine which have increased the survival rate for babies born at 24 weeks to 39 per cent.[5]

In the Commons he accepted "that my figure of 20 weeks was perhaps arbitrary; it was designed to move the debate on, which is why I welcome this debate". Evan Harris preferred a 19% figure for survival, rather than 39%, noting that the 19% figure was for surviving to a six-year follow-up.

Davies then turned to sex education, stating that "I certainly do not accept that more sex education in schools is the way to avoid unwanted pregnancies and abortions... . So far as I can tell, the more sex education we have in schools, the more unwanted pregnancies and abortions there are." When Sandra Gidley referred him to the "Health Committee report on sexual health, which demonstrates quite adequately that current levels of education in schools are woefully inadequate" he replied that "simply because a Select Committee gives a particular recommendation does not necessarily mean that I must agree with it. I am sure that she does not necessarily agree with every recommendation made by every Committee. I try to use my own practical experience and consider these things from my own perspective as well." However, earlier, talking on abortion and premature survival rates he had stated "Select Committees should debate the issue, and the Government should get people to look into it, so that we can have a debate that is based on science and fact rather than raw emotion."

As of 27th April 2010, the following remark of Davies from the debate was still posted on his website[6]:

It strikes me that the idea that more sex education will sort out all our problems is an easy and cheap solution. We have given sex education a particularly good go for several years and it does not appear to have worked, so a different strategy might need to be adopted. This never-ending sex education thing seems to encourage a fascination in the whole subject rather than preventing people from indulging in these pastimes and successfully preventing unwanted pregnancies and therefore abortions.

In May 2011 Mr Davies voted in favour of Nadine Dorries' Sex Education (Required Content) "10 minute" Bill[7]. The Bill stated that "such education must include information and advice on the benefits of abstinence from sexual activity"[8]. It was criticised for only applying to sex education for girls, not boys, with critics also pointing to evidence that abstinence-only sex education (which does not necessarily lead to abstinence itself) does not protect young people from unwanted pregnancies or STIs[9] (although this was not a bill advocating abstinence-only sex education, it would have meant that the only required elements of sex education would be basic information on reproduction[10], plus this new content on abstinence, with further content being up to the individual school)[11]. The Bill passed its first reading by 67 votes to 61, but had little chance of becoming law and was withdrawn in January 2012 shortly before its second reading[12].

Mr Davies voted for Nadine Dorries’s amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill on 7 September 2011, which was ultimately defeated by 368 to 118 votes. This amendment would have stopped BPAS and Marie Stopes from providing counselling for women with unwanted pregnancies and allowed ‘independent’ counselling including that provided by faith-based organisations. [13]

Homeopathy

In March 2010, following the publication of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee's report "Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy", Philip Davies signed Early Day Motion 908: Science and Technology Committee Report on Homeopathy, which was critical of the report[14].

Climate Change

In 2006, MPs were asked three questions by the Rough Guide's Mark Ellingham on how seriously they took climate change as politicians and as responsible, active citizens. Philip Davies replied:

"Climate change is clearly a very important issue, and you would know my views about this based on the way I have voted in Parliament and on the Early Day Motions I have signed which I suggest you look at. It is also vitally important we persuade countries such as the US and China to agree to take measures too."[15]

On 5th May 2008, in a debate in the House of Commons on climate change, Davies brought up examples of short-term cooling, seeming to challenge the scientific consensus on long-term global warming:

"...it would be a mistake to act too swiftly when, according to the Met Office Hadley Centre, last year there was a 12-month long drop in world temperature sufficient to wipe out a whole century of warming? In addition, China, which is supposed to be spewing out more carbon emissions than ever before, has had its coldest winter in 100 years."[16][17]
"Will my hon. Friend explain why, over the past year, we have seen the single fastest temperature change ever recorded—a reduction in world temperatures of between 0.65 and 0.75 per cent.—and why China has had its coldest winter in 100 years, despite increased carbon emissions?"[18][19]

He also expresses an opinion on Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth:

"My hon. Friend will know that Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth”, was ruled by a judge to contain at least nine inaccuracies, yet the Government have sent it out to every school in the country. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is more propaganda than science?"[20][21]

Libel Law Reform

In December 2009, Philip Davies seconded Early Day Motion 423 calling for a reform of the English libel law[22]. The motion noted that human rights activists, scientists, writers and journalists are currently prevented from publishing, and the public prevented from reading, matters of strong public interest due to the chilling effect of the law.

The motion was tabled following the recent formation of Libel Reform Coalition, which has the backing of Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense about Science. Sense about Science have been campaigning in defense of a member of its board of trustees, author and journalist Simon Singh, who has been sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association. They issued a statement entitled "The law has no place in scientific disputes".

Skeptical Voter Questions

A constituent sent Philip Davies a set of questions similar to the Skeptical Voter Candidate Survey, and recorded the responses on his blog[23].

References

  1. ↑ http://cornerstonegroup.wordpress.com/about/
  2. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2006-07/1770
  3. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2006-07/742
  4. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo050719/halltext/50719h02.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2005-06/516
  6. ↑ http://www.philip-davies.org.uk/issueshow.aspx?id=25&ref=7
  7. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110504/debtext/110504-0001.htm#stpa_o51
  8. ↑ http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-12/sexeducationrequiredcontent.html
  9. ↑ http://www.thetwentyfirstfloor.com/?p=2325
  10. ↑ http://www.drpetra.co.uk/blog/what-do-we-want-from-sex-and-relationships-education/
  11. ↑ http://educationforchoice.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/abstain-from-abstinence-please-dorries.html
  12. ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jan/20/nadine-dorries-sexual-abstinence-bill-withdrawn
  13. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/c_06.htm
  14. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2009-10/908
  15. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/climate-change-what-mps-think--a-to-c-424376.html
  16. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080305/halltext/80305h0005.htm#08030576000490
  17. ↑ http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?gid=2008-03-05b.449.4
  18. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080305/halltext/80305h0008.htm#08030576000539
  19. ↑ http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?gid=2008-03-05b.468.2
  20. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080305/halltext/80305h0005.htm#08030576000502
  21. ↑ http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?gid=2008-03-05b.453.1
  22. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2009-10/423
  23. ↑ http://jdc325.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/skeptical-voters/

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