A real cheery week in the Commons is looming for our lucky legislators. There’s assisted dying, grooming gangs and a welfare row to enjoy. But tomorrow attention will switch to abortion, with Labour MPs now pushing to ‘decriminalise’ the practice in England and Wales. Unfortunately, a bit of a row has broken out between Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasy, both of whom have tabled competing amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill.
Antoniazzi’s measure would allow abortion for any reason up to birth while maintaining criminal sanctions for doctors performing late-term or sex-selective procedures. Creasy, however, has adopted the more hard-line position of full decriminalisation in all circumstances. The pair sparred earlier this month on the floor of the House of Commons. Now, the race is on to see who can get more signatures for their amendment….
Sadly for Stella, it seems she has lost once again. For some 14 left-leaning Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs who previously backed her amendment have since withdrawn their names. They are, according to the parliamentary order paper, Peter Swallow, Antonia Bance, Freddie van Mierlo, Luke Taylor, Adam Jogee, Liz Jarvis, Rachel Taylor, Sarah Smith, Jacob Collier, Alison Hume, Kirith Entwistle, Layla Moran, Helen Hayes and Dr Rosena Allin-Khan. This list was accurate up to Friday evening.
All except Allin-Khan have put their names to Antoniazzi’s amendment instead. With Speaker Hoyle likely to call only one of the two Labour MPs, it looks like Creasy has demonstrated her reverse Midas touch in politics once again….
Comments