Cruddas clears up any misunderstanding
From Compass Youth:
On abortion, there is a vote on Tuesday next week [31st October] in Parliament. A Tory MP has proposed strict restrictions on a woman’s access to abortion services. I will vote against that Bill on Tuesday and would vote the same way on similar legislation in future. As Bill Clinton put it, I think abortion should be safe, legal but rare.
So Jon, do you believe in a woman’s right to choose?
Yes.
Glad to hear it too.
That the interviewer felt the need for the pointless follow-up question (as if stating that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare” is somehow dodging the question) is another sad illustration of quite how the whole abortion debate is (to a large extent) driven by empty clichés.
Although on the bright side… I guess it’s yet to reach the absurdity it can do in the States, where you have the ghastly spectacle of politicians who are almost (?) enthusiastic about the Death Penalty proclaiming themselves to be “pro-life”…
To be fair Al, the questions were submitted by Compass members, so it wasn’t exactly a tough follow up question, just evidence that people were interested…
I’m emailing and phoning my MP but having no luck in getting a clear answer out of him. He replied to one of my letters the other week but it was badly written (probably in a bar over a pint if the grammar’s any indication) and he is sat neatly on the fence not saying what he thinks!! How do you get an MP to say what they really think?
Which MP? You’ll be able to find out from the Division Lists as of tomorrow. (Though they do occasionally get names wrong, particularly on free votes.) Or you can have a look at their past voting record to get an idea.
“You’ll be able to find out from the Division Lists as of tomorrow. ”
The division list is already out. The great majority of Labour MPs who voted were against. Looking fast through the list I can some Lab MPs supporting it too (Frank Field and David Taylor for ex)
I think this has set the minds of a lot of people, mine not least, to rest. So I’m supporting the guy. Do we get transfers? If we do I’m transferring to Hain.
You do get to transfer - its some sort of AV system of voting I think.