More senior Tories join calls to liberalise Northern Ireland's 'anomalous' abortion laws
5 min read
Theresa May is facing fresh calls to overhaul Northern Ireland's tough anti-abortion laws, as two senior Conservatives added their voices to those calling for liberalisation.
Pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister to take action in Northern Ireland after this weekend's Irish referendum saw voters emphatically reject the anti-abortion clause of the country's constitution.
Education Minister Anne Milton and the Conservative chair of the Health Select Committee, Sarah Wollaston, today came out in favour of a cross-party bid by Labour MP Stella Creasy to increase abortion access in Northern Ireland.
But their calls came as another minister, Rory Stewart, downplayed the prospect of any changes and warned they could threaten peace in Northern Ireland.
Speaking on ITV's Peston on Sunday, Ms Milton said that votes on abortion had "traditionally" been "a matter of free vote".
She said: "I feel quite strongly about that... I do think it should be a free vote."
The frontbencher also confirmed that she personally backed a rethink of Northern Ireland's "anomolous" laws, saying it did not feel "quite right" that women there were forced to travel to England to access help.
She added: "As I say, I need to see the detail of the amendment. But personally yes, I believe in a woman's right to choose."
Ms Wollaston – who also chairs the influential Liaison Committee – meanwhile said she expected MPs to back Ms Creasy's upcoming amendment to the Domestic Violence Bill.
In a challenge to Mrs May, she said such issues were “always free votes" and said there was “a majority in the Commons now to support the rights for women to have access to safe termination of pregnancy wherever they live”.
The senior MP also gave her backing to a Northern Irish referendum on the issue, and expressed hope that power-sharing could be restored at the Northern Ireland assembly so it could enact the changes directly.
She told BBC 5Live’s Pienaar’s Politics: “There is a clear case to extend the same rights to women in Northern Ireland as we have here in the rest of the United Kingdom…
“At the very least allow women in Northern Ireland the opportunity for Northern Ireland to have a referendum on this, because it was such a convincing vote in the Republic of Ireland I think it would show the level of support there is for this and make the case of the Northern Ireland Assembly when it is reconvened.”
'VERY, VERY DANGEROUS'
But Justice Minister Rory Stewart warned that a vote to liberalise Northern Ireland's laws could jeopardise peace in the region, which has been without a government for almost eighteen months.
He told Sky News show Ridge on Sunday: "It would be very, very dangerous for British politicians to be seen to be telling people in Northern Ireland how to vote.
"One of the reasons why we have a more peaceful situation in NI is because we have delegated.”
Mr Stewart added: “There isn’t a parliament in Stormont at the moment so that puts a huge degree of trust and response on the Westminster government to have an interim government but that mustn’t be used to make fundamental constitutional ethical changes on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland.
"It should be seen as a caretaker situation. Those kinds of decisions need to be made by the Stormont parliament when that is up and running again.”
Any support for changes to Northern Ireland's abortion rules would put the Prime Minister in a tight spot as the traditionalist DUP - whose 10 MPs she relies on to keep her Commons majority - would oppose such a move.
Asked if the Government should be concerned about a backlash from the Unionist party, Ms Wollaston today said: “No, because as I say I think this is a free vote issue and we wouldn’t vote along party lines in any case on an issue such as this.”
Elsewhere, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth said he would take the advice of health experts on the issue.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “These matters should be clinician-led and the key thing is always ensuring the safety and the wellbeing of the woman making what in many circumstances will be a very personally difficult decision.
“That is where I would come from on this. I would always support the women and I would always follow the medical advice.”
Two-thirds (66.4%) of Irish voters opted to repeal the country's constitutional ban on abortion in a nationwide referendum this weekend, a result hailed as a "quiet revolution" by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
Mrs May today gave her first public comments on the result, tweeting: “The Irish Referendum yesterday was an impressive show of democracy which delivered a clear and unambiguous result.
"I congratulate the Irish people on their decision and all of Together4Yes on their successful campaign.”
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