SHIPLEY MP Philip Davies has written to a feminist group planning a protest in his constituency, saying he hopes they "enjoy themselves" on the day.

A group calling itself the Shipley Feminist Zealots has organised a march against the new US president Donald Trump, and Mr Davies for publicly supporting him.

The march, which starts at Shipley Market Square at noon on Saturday, is being held to coincide with the Women's March on Washington and other protests around the world marking the first full day of Mr Trump's presidency.

The group's name is a reference to a speech Mr Davies made last year, in which he criticised "feminist zealots" who only wanted equality when it suited them.

Mr Davies' open letter to the group says he has only ever argued for men and women to be treated equally, and challenges the group to find any evidence to the contrary.

He says: "In the absence of any example you can find where I have called for women to be treated less favourably than men, I can only presume that your opposition to me is not borne out of your feminist views.

"It seems they are borne out of your socialist views. Perhaps you don’t have confidence in the popularity of your political ideology and so have to find a different vehicle to oppose me."

Mr Davies says he would be "very happy to accept your offer to meet your group and others" to discuss their concerns.

And he signs off: "I hope you enjoy yourselves on Saturday and hope that you will use the local shops in Shipley so that the local economy benefits from your protest."

Jenny Wilson, of the group, said the main point of the march was in "supporting a global movement", and was not all about Mr Davies.

But she said they were keen to meet him, once they had held the march, to discuss their concerns in person.

She added: "It's great that Philip's final comment was about us enjoying ourselves and supporting the local shops, which of course we do.

"All of the people organising the event live locally and of course we support our local shops.

"He has also accused us, in this letter, of hiding our socialism behind feminism.

"This is a very, very broad group of people and to suggest everybody involved in the protest on Saturday is a socialist is a very strange thing to suggest."

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