CHRISTCHURCH MP Sir Christopher Chope has defended his move to put forward no fewer than 41 private members bills (PMBs) in the House of Commons.

The veteran Conservative politician has put forward a raft of proposals for new legislation.

Areas covered by Sir Christopher’s latest batch of PMBs include decriminalising the BBC licence fee and privatisation of the BBC and Channel 4.

On the licence fee, he said: “In my election manifesto I said I was against charging pensioners for the TV licence but I was also against the licence entirely. I got a lot of support for that proposition.

“It seems to me now that one way of forcing the BBC to adjust before the next charter renewal is to decriminalise the licence fee.

“This is a hot topic of debate because of new technology and platforms. Relatively few young people go near the BBC and they are having to pay the cost of the licence fee and many are being caught out, while people are using mobile devices and accessing overseas without paying.”

On privatising the two public service broadcasters, Sir Christopher said: “Why do we need to have public ownership of Channel 4? I find it hard to justify. It is a public service broadcaster but it gets advertising revenue. It could be sold off and I think it should be.

“If the BBC needed more capital then the way this could be done is if it functioned as an independent private company.”

Sir Christopher’s PMBs also covered caravan and park sites, co-funding NHS services, a repeat effort to cap public sector exit payments and the subject of eco-anxiety.

“Eco-anxiety is something which is recognised in the United States and in this country as being a mental health condition for which you can get treatment,” he said.

“It can lead to people deciding not to have children due to damage to the planet.

“Some of the propaganda that is coming out from government and agencies is promoting this irrational fear because we as individuals cannot take action to address the overall consequences of climate change.”

As reported, the 72-year-old is one of group of politicians who regularly put forward PMBs, which has attracted criticism in some quarters.

However, Sir Christopher said there were only three MPs, including himself, in the House of Commons that were tabling potential law changes earlier this week.

“What is interesting is that on the day there was only Peter Bone and Chris Stephens with me. No one else put forward private members bills," he said. “I think that some people do not want to go near Fridays [when PMBs are normally debated]. Other people think it is so difficult to get private members bills through that it is not worth bothering.”

The full list of new private members bills Sir Christopher submitted, which could be debated over the coming months if they are brought forward on the order paper, are as follows: