A FURIOUS shadow minister accused Tory MPs of “playing games” by talking endlessly about uncontroversial parking charge proposals to time out a Bill targeting child poverty.

Shadow communities minister Andy Slaughter said he was “very, very angry” at Conservative efforts to stop Labour MP Daniel Jarvis’s Private Member’s Bill from being heard in the Commons yesterday.

Mr Jarvis’s Child Poverty in the UK (Target for Reduction) Bill, which was scheduled third on the list for Commons business, calls on the government to reintroduce a target to end child poverty.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies warns child poverty in Britain could rise by 50 per cent by 2020.

However a number of Tory MPs made lengthy speeches which meant discussion on the first Bill of the day, regarding parking charges, lasted three-and-a-half hours.

Conservative MP Jo Churchill joked to the Commons during the debate that there was a lack of contributions from Labour on the proposals, to which Mr Slaughter replied: “I’m listening to her speaking and I do think she’s pushing her luck.

“A lot of us on this side are very, very angry about the fact that the honourable member for Barnsley Central’s Bill is being talked out by her and her friends on the government back benches today.

“If she wants to do that, she can play games, but please don’t criticise us.”

Mr Jarvis was left with just 30 minutes to put his draft legislation and it ran out of time.

The full debate is scheduled for February 24 but time constraints mean its chances of progressing are very slim.

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