A bill to tackle violence against women has cleared its first Commons hurdle despite a Conservative MP speaking out against it for 77 minutes.

Philip Davies was accused of attempting to filibuster the SNP-sponsored draft law requiring the UK Government to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

He argued it is "sexist" to say the focus should only be on violence against women, adding he stands for "true equality".

Davies said the bill, brought forward by the SNP's Eilidh Whiteford had a "worthy sentiment", adding "morons on Twitter" would probably misinterpret opposition to it.

He was heckled by Labour MPs for the length of his speech, with Tory colleagues also questioning why he would not back the bill.

The SNP successfully moved a motion to curtail the debate before MPs gave the Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill a second reading by 135 votes to two.

The bill will now progress to committee stage and faces a race against time to become law before the end of the parliamentary session.

It would require the government to take all reasonable steps to make the UK compliant with the convention and require ministers to set out a timetable for ratification.

The Istanbul Convention was adopted by the Council of Europe in 2011 and while the UK has signed the convention it has not yet ratified it.

The government has said it intends to ratify the convention but has faced growing criticism for the fact that it has yet to do so.

Moving her bill, Banff and Buchan MP Whiteford said: "The government needs to take the Istanbul Convention out of the bottom drawer where it has been filed for far too long in a pile marked 'too complicated, too difficult, too low a priority'."

Labour MP Jess Phillips said ratifying the convention would be the "greatest gift" MPs could offer to those people who fear the slightest thing could mean the "monster that lives in their home" erupts on Christmas Day.

Davies, who has campaigned for parliament to recognise International Men's Day and criticised "militant feminists", was recently selected to serve on the Commons women and equalities committee.

He is known for speaking at length against private member's bills of which he disapproves.

In the past, he has blocked bills to give carers free hospital parking; to give children first aid training in schools; to ban the use of wild animals in circuses, and to require landlords to make homes fit for human habitation.

Earlier this year he complained three times to the BBC after being branded a "toad-faced hypocrite" on a comedy show. The complaints were rejected.