MPs vote in favour of measures to decriminalise abortion for women in England and Wales
The Commons voted 379 to 137, majority 242, to back Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi's amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill.
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South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
MPs to reintroduce bill in name of girl, 9, who died in pollution-linked death
Dubbed 'Ella's Law,' the proposed legislation is named after Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who lived 82ft from the busy South Circular Road in Lewisham and suffered the fatal asthma attack in February 2013. She became the first person to have air pollution listed as a cause of death following a landmark inquest in 2020. Sian Berry, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion will present the bill to the House of Commons with a speech on Tuesday July 1, with the aim of making clean air a human right under UK law. If passed, the bill would require the Government to achieve clean air throughout England by January 1 2030, setting out a pathway to bring the country in line with World Health Organisation air pollution guidelines. She has so far been backed by cross-party Labour, Liberal Democrat, SNP and Independent MPs but hopes that more will support the bill and it will be picked up by the Government in the next King's Speech. Ella's mother Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah has long campaigned for the Government to introduce stricter air pollution limits since her daughter died. In 2022, a similar version of Ella's law was steered through the House of Lords by Green Party peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb. Sian Berry and Rosumund Adoo Kissi-Deborah on the on the boundary of the South Circular Road in London (Green Party/PA) It was later sponsored by Caroline Lucas MP in the Commons until Parliament was dissolved for the 2024 general election. Ms Berry said: 'Deaths like Ella's, and the millions of lives blighted by preventable diseases caused by air pollution, can be a thing of the past if Governments start taking the right action now. 'Rosamund's campaign is gaining momentum and communities across the country are raising air pollution as a key problem in their local area, so it is great to have representatives from all parties joining together to press for a legal right to breathe clean air. 'Finally passing Ella's Law will save lives, as it will make sure we get new targets, and the funding for local areas to achieve them by cutting down on the many causes of toxic pollution, from road traffic to wood burning.' Ms Adoo Kissi-Debrah said: 'I am delighted Sian and the cross-section of MPs are taking forward Ella's Law in parliament. 'Tackling air pollution should not be a partisan issue, it affects us all, in every constituency in the country. 'I believe that everyone has a right to breathe clean air, no matter where they live, the colour of their skin or their socio-economic background. 'We know that air pollution affects most people in this country, but the harshest effects are felt by poorer and marginalised communities. 'I hope this Labour Government will therefore take forward this Bill to protect all children and adults from the devastating effects of breathing toxic air.' The announcement comes as campaigners, health professionals, local authorities and schools across the country will mark Clean Air Day on Thursday. In the UK, toxic air pollution is estimated to cause between 29,000 and 43,000 premature deaths every year, according to The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution. Sarah Sleet, chief executive at Asthma + Lung UK, said: 'These early deaths represent a failure of government to act as current policies and targets do not do enough to protect public health. 'Toxic air has a detrimental impact on the millions of people living with a lung condition in the UK – with four out of five telling us that it makes their breathing difficulties worse. 'We need action now to protect the public's lungs.' Ella's estate, over which Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah acts as administrator, sued the Environment Department (Defra), the Department for Transport and the Department of Health and Social Care for compensation over her 'illness and premature death'. In October last year, three Government departments settled the claim brought by law firm Hodge Jones & Allen for an undisclosed sum, and issued a statement telling Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah 'we are truly sorry for your loss' and that no child should have to suffer as Ella did.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
SARAH VINE: If the Left had wanted to provoke a pro-life movement like in the US, then this vote was a great start
Yesterday in the House of Commons Parliament voted by 379 votes to 137 to decriminalise abortion up to and including full term. There are no two ways about it. Our elected representatives, the people charged with safeguarding the interests of every man, woman and child in this country, have just voted for the state-sanctioned killing of foetuses that would be entirely viable if they were allowed to be born. To my mind, it is, quite frankly, morally indefensible. I am by no means anti-abortion. I understand that there are situations where the death of a foetus cannot be avoided, or where a termination is necessary. I have no issue with the morning-after pill being readily available, either. Women have a right to autonomy over their bodies. But like all these things, there are limits – moral and medical. For the most part, babies are not viable outside the womb much before 24 weeks, but after that they can and do survive. The current legislation around abortion reflects that. It's not a perfect cut-off point – there will always be exceptions – but it's probably the least bad option. In any case, very few women opt for abortion at this stage, not least because it involves full labour and delivering a stillborn baby. But now, thanks to Tonia Antoniazzi, Stella Creasy (who wants to go even further, and fully indemnify the partners and medics involved from threat of prosecution) and the powerful abortion lobby, you can theoretically kill a nine-month-old foetus – provided it's still in the womb. This is precisely the sort of insanity that gives feminism a bad name. Because, of course, the whole issue has been re-framed as a question of 'women's rights', which it is most emphatically not. It's a human rights issue: the right of one human to life – versus another's right to take it without fear of repercussion. The irony is that part of the reason this is happening is not because abortion is hard to come by in Britain – but because it's become so much easier. Thanks to measures introduced during Covid, women can now obtain at-home abortion pills over the phone, without the need for a face-to-face consultation, and with no requirement for them to be administered under medical supervision. These pills are only safe and legal up to ten weeks of pregnancy (which is when the vast majority of terminations take place); but the system is open to abuse. Before the need for face-to-face appointments was abolished, there were just three prosecutions of women for illegal abortions in a period of 160 years; since the new system was introduced, there have been six. One of them was the case of Nicola Packer, 45, who last month was cleared of 'unlawfully administering herself a poison or other noxious thing' with the 'intent to procure a miscarriage' at around 26 weeks. Packer's supporters have cast her as a victim, which maybe she is. In court, her defence claimed that she was heavily traumatised by the experience of being arrested and prosecuted. But is that really a reason to declare open season on unborn babies? I could perhaps understand some part of this were there still any degree of stigma surrounding unmarried mothers. But this is not 1925. No one cares any more if a woman has a baby on her own. There's no shame or embarrassment in it, no one is going to force anyone to go to live with evil nuns. And besides, why not just take the baby to term and give it up for adoption? There are plenty of childless couples desperate for a newborn who would be only too grateful. Adoption in this country is complicated and mired in red tape. Why doesn't Parliament vote to resolve that problem instead? But also, on a more personal level, why let it get to that stage? These days you can tell if you're pregnant almost immediately after having sex. If you don't want to be, there are many easy ways of remedying that situation before mitosis (cell division) has even begun. Is that so hard? One thing's for certain. If the Left want to provoke a hardline pro-life movement of the kind that exists in the US, yesterday's vote was an excellent start.
Powys County Times
2 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Flagship welfare reform plans to be introduced in Parliament
The Government's flagship reforms to the welfare system are expected to have their first outing in Parliament on Wednesday. The Welfare Reform Bill will be introduced in the House of Commons, and its text will be published so MPs can begin scrutiny of the proposals. The major reforms are set to include the tightening of criteria for the main disability benefit in England, personal independence payment (Pip). I'll vote against these awful welfare reforms. A Labour government should lift people out of poverty, not put people into it. If you agree, then please write to your MP and tell them that. — Brian Leishman (@BrianLeishmanMP) June 17, 2025 Ministers also want to cut the sickness related element of universal credit (UC), and delay access to it, so only those aged 22 and over can claim it. The package of reforms is aimed at encouraging more people off sickness benefits and into work, and the Government hopes it can save up to £5 billion a year by doing so. But ministers are likely to face a Commons stand-off with backbench Labour MPs over their plans, with dozens of them last month saying the proposals were 'impossible to support'. The Bill is set to be introduced as the latest benefits data has shown that more than 3.7 million people in England and Wales are claiming Pip, with teenagers and young adults making up a growing proportion. The latest data, published by the Department for Work and Pensions on Tuesday, showed there were a record 3.74 million people in England and Wales claiming Pip as of April this year. The figure is up from 3.69 million in January and a jump of 200,000 from 3.54 million a year earlier. Data for Pip claimants begins in January 2019, when the number stood at 2.05 million. Pip is a benefit aimed at helping with extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability and difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of their condition. Teenagers and young adults account for a growing proportion of those getting Pip. Some 16.5% of claimants in April this year were aged 16-19, up from 14.6% in April 2019. The 30-44 age group has similarly grown, while the number of 45-59 year-olds has fallen. The figure for 60-74 year-olds has risen slightly over this period, from 29.3% to 30.8%. It was reported in recent days that Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has agreed to include 'non-negotiable' protections in the Bill, including a guarantee that those who no longer qualify for Pip will still receive the payments for 13 weeks, rather than just four weeks. The concession is seen as a move to avert a rebellion by Labour MPs opposed to the overall reforms, but have been described as 'not very much really' by one such parliamentarian. Downing Street insisted it was 'crucial to say we are committed to the reforms that we've set out'. A No 10 spokesman said: 'You've heard that from the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, the Work and Pensions Secretary, on the principles behind this and the urgent need for this. 'You have the statistics, they show we have the highest level of working age inactivity due to ill health in Western Europe. 'We're the only major economy whose employment rate hasn't recovered since the pandemic.' Pip will remain 'an important non-means-tested benefit for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, regardless of whether they are in or out of work', he said, but added the Government would build a 'system that is fairer' through its reforms. It is thought the restrictions on Pip would slash benefits for about 800,000 people. Ms Kendall previously said there are 1,000 new Pip awards every day – 'the equivalent of adding a city the size of Leicester every single year'.
