by
Paul Nuttall
April
25, 2017
The Westminster Bubble is back at the laughing at UKIP stage and it’s a
disgrace given the importance of the issues we are raising.
On the question of Female Genital Mutilation, nobody has ever been convicted
in the UK despite the practice being illegal for over 30 years. Yet in the year
2015-2016 according to research from the Royal College of Nursing 5,700
blameless young girls were mutilated, out of a total of over 60,000 women who
have suffered.
Yet yesterday when Margot Parker, my excellent Women and Equalities
spokesman, raised the issue she was derided and greeted with horror but as she
pointed out: “The French have performed rather better than we have in the UK .
In the past 34 years there have been 29 trials, in which 100 people—both parents
and cutters—have been convicted…. Another thing that happens in France is
systematic examination of girls for signs of FGM during health checks. We have
to look at that.”
Oh sorry, that quote wasn’t Margot, but Dianne Abbott, the Shadow Home
Secretary only 3 years ago, suggesting to Parliament what is now settled UKIP
policy. Did we hear the howls of outrage then? Of course not. The practice is
evil and as a nation, a society and a culture we have a duty to the thousands of
innocent girls threatened with brutality and permanent ill health to stamp it
out. Rather than pay lip service we as a nation have a duty to act.
Likewise, when France, Belgium, the Netherlands banned face covering were
their politicians didn’t put up with ridiculous questions about whether they
would ban big hats and glasses. When Angela Merkel suggested the same policy did
the British press go into paroxysms of giggles? No of course not.
The fact is that in an opinion poll less than a year old a majority of all
parties’ supporters supported the introduction of such measures in the UK. It
would be a measure that would state categorically that in the country while we
welcome all religions, we do not welcome the subjugation of women. If we are to
defend the fundamental concept of equality and importantly equality in the law
then this is a measure whose time has come, as even the avowedly centrist EPP
group in the European Parliament accept.
Yet again it appears that UKIP speaks while other parties dither and, as with
Brexit we are laughed at, derided and held in contempt. It’s alright, we are
used to it, we can cope, but we were right over Brexit and we are right about
this. Right now, the coddled elite are laughing at us, but that will change, and
we will be proud to have lead this debate as we have lead others before.
As that famous quote goes, ‘First they ignore you, then they laugh at you,
then they fight you, then you win.’ Guess what? They laughed at us 15 years ago
when we talked about EU withdrawal, and we well know what happened
next.
