CONFRONTATION may be the essence of British politics, but there are times when plain common sense and consensus should take over.

A case crying out for that is the need to outlaw stalking.

For, as Rossendale and Darwen MP and Shadow Minister for Women Janet Anderson revealed yesterday, each year 3,000 people, mostly women, are put through hell by stalkers.

Mrs Anderson was stating the clear need for stalking to be made a crime.

But what is maddening is the fact that she provided the solution a whole six months ago.

She proposed a Bill that had widespread support and input from those outside Parliament who are fighting this menace and dealing with its dreadful effects on victims.

Yet, inside Parliament, it was deliberately blocked by the government - for no other reason than its Labour-inspired origins. It is shameful that political motives of the most callous sort should have obstructed Parliament's duty to protect the people.

But because of this ignoble attitude by the government, all that the victims of stalkers now have in the way of protection is a government consultation paper and no guarantee of legislation.

And with a general election on the horizon, the prospects of any anti-stalking law being enacted are further reduced - when there is a clear need for one now.

For victims, the grim reality of the unwanted vacuum caused by the government's pettiness is the courtroom lottery they must face if they seek protection from existing legislation.

That means they must convince a judge and jury that the mental damage they have suffered amounts to actual physical harm - a paradox that means that some see those who have made their life a living hell walking free.

If he has any scruple when he speaks on law and order at the forthcoming Tory Party conference, Mr Howard should apologise for his blocking action.

He must also announce support for the anti-stalking Bill Mrs Anderson delivered to him so long ago and pledge to push it through Westminster at once.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.