No fewer than 10,000 women who undertook DIY abortions in 2020 required hospital treatment for complications. A morally serious Parliament, in step with public opinion, should not assent to an amendment that treats abortion pills like sweets.
Voters can lean towards a lower limit and favour decriminalisation for the same reason they can favour higher spending and lower taxes. It is the duty of politicians to do better.
Simple commitments and pouring more money into a failing model will only compound the Health Service’s woes, and voters will punish such failure at the ballot box.
Each party has savaged the other’s efforts to tackle the problem with the same lazy attacks. Now the only common ground seems to be to kick the problem into more long grass.
According to YouGov, the Party commands a plurality of voters only among the over 70s. As far as voting intention is concerned, the Conservative Party is literally dying on its feet.
The NHS which has seen its productivity collapse, and is facing enormous cost pressures as the population ages, must surely be first in line for the application of the tools as they emerge.
Liz Truss has called the policy “profoundly unconservative”. What’s unconservative? Discuss. But what can certainly be said is that it’s illberal and, in this case, Party members line up with individual freedom against government coercion.
A remarkable amount has been achieved. Often against the odds and in the face of adversity. And certainly in circumstances far less benign than those faced by New Labour.
Voters believe four of the Government’s five key pledges are more likely to happen under Labour than the Conservatives. Meanwhile, 2019 Tory voters prioritise spending on public services over tax cuts,
Rushed policy generally can do just as much harm as cigarettes in the long run – and, sadly, seems almost as addictive to politicians as nicotine.
The longer Number Ten fails to declare, the more cheerfully Labour will pile in – preparing to frame the Prime Minister as a bottler if he waits until after the Budget to rule out a May poll.
To make progress over the coming year, the Party needs to reach out to more voters and the danger is that fighting culture wars just puts people off.
Monday’s speech and today’s announcement show them choosing their ground for the next election. And since Hunt may find no money for further tax cuts next spring, the option of a May general election is opening up.
We have no right to make assumptions about the value of the lives of others. We certainly have no right to do so when there is a clear financial incentive for us, or for the government, to place a thumb on the scales.