'Remove your clothes', MP urges women
8 Oct 2006 by Andy Tilbrook
Rebel Labour backbencher Doug Ramsbottom revealed last night that he asks women visitors to his MP's surgery to remove all their clothes."Clothes are a barrier to good communication," he said. "I cannot tell what someone is thinking unless I can see them naked. I try to conduct the vast majority of parliamentary business in the nude."
Some women's groups called his remarks insulting, but a spokeswoman for the Union of Lap-dancers said they understood his concerns.
Mr Ramsbottom was recently banned from the Commons chamber for two weeks after he arrived at Health Questions wearing only a leopard skin thong. The BBC governors are said to be considering censuring BBC Parliament for the first time in its history as a result.
"Communities are bound together partly by informal chance relations between strangers - people being able to acknowledge each other in the street or being able pass the time of day," said Professor Gregory T Mullet of Bootle University's Centre for Lifelong Nudity.
"That's made more difficult if people are wearing clothes. It's just a fact of life. I understand the concerns but I hope there can be a mature debate about this."
A Labour Party source said last night there would be a full investigation into Mr Ramsbottom's comments by a senior figure in the party who "really understands" the issues. A spokesman was unable to confirm that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had strenuously volunteered for the job.
