MPs who talked out a bill by a Brighton MP aimed at banning so-called LGBT conversion therapy practices “frustrated the will of the country”.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, had proposed a bill to create new offences for a course of conduct whose “predetermined” purpose was to change a person’s sexual orientation or to change a person to or from being transgender.

However, opponents of the bill continued the debate past the cut-off point for consideration of private members’ bills, preventing the bill from being discussed further.

Mr Russell-Moyle said: “We had a vote today and the clear majority, the vast majority of people in the House, wanted this bill to progress, but because of an arcane rule that you have to have 100 people through the lobbies on one side, it meant that it has not progressed.”

He pointed to “time-wasting” by Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey, who spoke for more than an hour and criticised others who raised issues about trans rights which he said were “not relevant to this particular debate”.

Mr Russell-Moyle claimed his opponents “genuinely do not believe that conversion therapy should be stopped”.

“I think that’s fine, just so that we know that they are in a minority, that is not the will of the House and it is not the will of the country.”

He also claimed that the government has “no real will to bring this issue forward”.

MPs are understood to be considering amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill which could provide the same outcome as his proposals.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle suggested he would continue to push for the reforms in the next parliament if they are not made law before then.

He said: “What we have now is a framework, or a bedrock for the Labour government to build on.

“Clearly, if it is a government bill you will want to put more in. You will want to have better protections and services wrap-around.”

During the debate, equalities minister and Lewes MP Maria Caulfield had raised four areas of concern which meant the government would not support the bill.

These included the proposed definition of conversion practices, which she said was “simply just too broad”.

The minister also raised concerns about the proposed parental exemption, telling the House of Commons that while there is a right to “legitmate conversations in the family setting”, there were concerns that the exemption left open the “potential for conversion practices which could be abusive to continue”.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle asked for the debate to resume on March 15, but it is unlikely to be considered further as the bill now drops to the bottom of the list of private members’ bills.