Legislation to decriminalise abortion for women clears the Commons
This comes after the Commons backed Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi's amendment, which will remove the threat of 'investigation, arrest, prosecution or imprisonment' of any woman who acts in relation to her own pregnancy.
The issue was treated as a matter of conscience, with MPs given a free vote and the Government remaining neutral.
Downing Street said the change to abortion laws must be 'workable and safe', following Tuesday's verdict.
MPs voted 379 to 137, majority 242, to back Ms Antoniazzi's amendment.
A No 10 spokesman said: 'We'll look at this in detail, considering whether any changes are necessary to make it workable and safe. But, of course, this would not change the intent of the amendment passed.'
The spokesman added: 'As with all laws, the Government has a responsibility to ensure it is safe and workable.'
The Bill will now undergo further scrutiny in the House of Lords.
It will also introduce a two-step verification process for the sale of knives and crossbows purchased online, and greater protections for emergency workers from racial and religious abuse during house calls are also included in the Bill.
Speaking during report stage on Tuesday, Ms Antoniazzi said she pushed for the change in the law after cases of women being investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions.
The Gower MP said: 'This is the right change at the right time. I implore colleagues who want to protect women and girls and abortion services to vote for new clause one.
'Let's ensure that not a single desperate woman ever again is subject to traumatic, criminal investigation at the worst moments in their lives.'
Medics or others who facilitate an abortion after the 24-week time limit could still face prosecution if the change becomes law.
Though the Government took a neutral stance on the vote, several Cabinet ministers were among the MPs who backed the amendment.
They included Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Defence Secretary John Healey, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, Environment Secretary Steve Reed, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Scotland Secretary Ian Murray, Wales Secretary Jo Stevens and Commons Leader Lucy Powell.
Kemi Badenoch and many members of the Conservative front bench voted against it but shadow education secretary Laura Trott voted in favour.
Abortion in England and Wales currently remains a criminal offence unless with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy, with very limited circumstances allowing one after this time, such as when the mother's life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability.
It is also legal to take prescribed medication at home if a woman is under 10 weeks pregnant.
Efforts to change the law to protect women from prosecution follow repeated calls to repeal sections of the 19th century law, the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, after abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Corbyn strikes again as Labour lose their first councillor to the former leader's ultra-left party founded with Zarah Sultana
Labour have lost their first councillor to the ultra-left party former leader Jeremy Corbyn recently founded with dissident MP Zarah Sultana. Grace Lewis, 22, defected from Sir Keir Starmer 's party on Friday to join the new political grouping - which at present is only a 600,000-person-strong mailing list. Ms Lewis, a vocal pro-Palestinian voice on Coventry City Council, represents the ward of Westwood in the southwest of the city. In a post on social media she laid into Labour's record in government, citing Sir Keir's raid on winter fuel payments, cuts to disability allowance and the party's retention of the two child benefit cap. In the statement she said: 'Today, after 5 and a half years, I resigned my Labour Party membership. I will now serve the residents of Westwood on Coventry City Council as an Independent. 'The Labour Party promised 'change', yet since entering government, Labour has cut support for disabled people, kept the Tories cruel Two Child Benefit cap and slashed Winter Fuel Payments - driving record numbers into poverty. 'Rather than address the real crises facing people in our city, they have chosen the side of the rich and powerful. 'They have joined Reform in targeting minorities, including migrants and trans peple, all whilst being atcive participants in the genocide in Gaza, ramping up spending on war, and arming Israel - criminalising peaceful protestors in the process.' Coventry councillor Grace Lewis, 22, (pictured) is the first serving Labour politician to defect to Your Party, the new political grouping formed by former leader Jeremy Corbyn and ex-MP Zarah Sultana Ms Lewis was elected in the City Council Elections on May 2, 2024, two months before Sir Keir Starmer's 'loveless landslide' at that year's General Election. She won her seat with 1936 voters on 47 per cent of the ballot, with the Conservative candidate Asha Masih finishing second on 1415 voters on 35 per cent of votes. Ms Lewis began her two-year term on May 7 and also sits on the City Council's Planning Committee, Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board and Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board. In her short time as an elected councillor she has courted controversy on several occasions - most noteable in her vocal support for the Palestinian cause. Last December she lambasted Israel in a council meeting for carrying out a 'genocidal assault on Gaza', The Telegraph reported. In the same meeting she called for the West Midlands Pension Fund to divest from any investments with companies involved in arms sales to Israel. Ms Lewis also carried over her advocacy into her personal life, wearing a badge of the Palestinian flag to her graduation day last year at the University of Warwick. In another graduation picture she can be seen holding a hand-painted banner with two other students that reads 'Free Palestine'. In the Instagram caption accompanying the photo she wrote: 'My degree may be over, but Warwick's complicity is not #freepalestine.' Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana's movement has the website with a welcome message saying 'this is your party'. Already 600,000 people have signed up to the party's mailing list, although the name is only a placeholder, with Mr Corybn suggesting the members will be handed the final say. Government ministers who used to sit alongside Mr Corbyn in the House of Commons mocked the 'chaotic' launch of the veteran MP's new party. Yet Mr Corbyn shrugged off the criticism and said there had been an 'enormous' response to the launch. Speaking during a visit to a bin strike picket line in Birmingham on Jult 25, he pointed out that hundreds of thousands had already flocked to the new outfit. The party is expected to hold its inagural conference in November and Mr Corbyn has outlined a focus on peace, social justice and an end to austerity economics. In her statement outlining her reasons for quitting Labour, Ms Lewis attacked Labour's spending plans which she said locally included cuts to libaries and charities. But Ms Sultana immediately sowed confusion by insisting a name had not yet been chosen. She frantically posted on social media: 'It's not called Your Party.' She wrote: 'They have continued austerity and failed to properly address the deepening crisis of Local Government finance, with many authorities still at risk of bankruptcy. 'Here in Coventry, the Labou Council cuts library services, cultural funding and support for local charities. 'And when workers stand up to fight for decent living standards Coventry City Council responds by strike-breaking, sending Tom White Waste trucks to Birmingham, insulting the very trade unions which the party was founded to defend. 'This is not the change peple voted for, not the changed I joined the Labour Party for when I was 16, and certainly not the change which people deserve. 'Therefore, I welcome the launch of a new left party, one rootred in working-class communities and committed to real change.' Cllr Lewis added: 'When Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn announced its inception, I felt a sense of genuine political hope for the first time in a long time.' In a post on X commenting on the defection, Zarah Sultana said: 'Grace is a formidable force in local government and I'm proud to welcome her to the new political party we're building! 'Across the country, millions feel politically homeless. Labour is dead. To councillors everywhere: are you really delivering the change Keir Starmer promised?' Polls have suggested the new party headed by Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana could take between 10 and 18 per cent of the vote at the next General Election, which would prove disastrous for Labour nationally. The so-called 'Hastings Independents Group' - which consists of MPs who left Labour in December 2023 - have already affiliated with Your Party. Councillors Paul Barnett, Andy Batsford, John Cannan, Nigel Sinden, Mike Turner, and Simon Willis are all onboard with the new grouping, which seems set to shake up the left of British politics. In an email to supporters, Your Party confirmed their first conference will be held before the end of 2025. They wrote: 'This conference will be the moment where, together, we will decide the direction, structure and platform of this party. 'To make it as accessible and democratic as possible, the conference will be hybrid – both in-person and online – so that everyone can take part in the decisions that will shape its future. Make no mistake: whatever the name, it is always going to be your party.' However, those inside the Labour cabinet have been scathing about Your Party. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told Times Radio: 'I was an MP in the Labour Party when Jeremy Corbyn was leader. 'And the chaos and instability that he brought to our party I'm now viewing him wreak in his new party. 'I'm just very glad that I'm looking on it from the outside this time, rather than having to experience it from the inside.' Mr Kyle, who campaigned for Mr Corbyn to become prime minister at the 2017 and 2019 general elections, said the veteran left-winger was 'not a serious politician'. He added: 'The thing that worries me the most about what he says is that he doesn't want to spend money defending our country. 'He is against the money that Labour is investing into the defence of our country. 'At the moment, these are the things that should fundamentally worry us about the words of Jeremy Corbyn. 'He's not a serious politician. He doesn't think about governing, he thinks about posturing.'
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
The disability employment gap affects 16million of us - can the goverment fix it
When Keighley Miles was at school, it was always assumed that she wouldn't be able to find work. 'Nothing was ever mentioned about career options or further education,' the 39-year-old, who was born deaf, tells Metro. 'I can't remember ever being told that I could do whatever I wanted, or anybody talking to me about what life would be like as a deaf adult.' It's no wonder that such a lack of support left Keighley, who lives in Essex, struggling to find consistent work after leaving school – a problem compounded by difficulties communicating. 'We moved from London to Essex when I was 15, and I didn't attend school after that,' she continues. 'It led to depression and left me feeling like I wouldn't ever achieve anything in life.' 40-year-old Holly Donovan can relate, never having a full-time job. Not because they don't want one, but because they cannot find employment that accommodates their disability. 'All I want to do is work, but there aren't enough opportunities for disabled people like me,' says Holly, who uses a wheelchair due to a childhood cancer which left them with chronic pain and a metal rod in their back. 'I'm stuck only living on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which could be cut under Labour's plans, while my partner has to support me because I can't bring any money in. I'm living in poverty, and I shouldn't be.' The difference in employment rates between disabled and non-disabled people is stark. At the end of 2024, the disability employment gap stood at 28.6% – a 1% increase from 2023. It's a breach that has remained stagnant at around 30% for three decades, and while Labour has promised to get one million people back into work, the workplace hurdles disabled people face are often complex. 'The disability employment gap exists because of a combination of systemic, structural, and cultural barriers,' explains Sue Wray, head of community for Hamelin, a disability charity focused on empowering autistic adults and people with learning disabilities. 'Then there's the issue of assumptions; too many employers still make snap judgements about someone's abilities without really understanding their strengths.' As Keighley and Holly know too well, the roots of the issue often stem way before working age. And while there's no doubt that upcoming generations have benefited from the improvement of special educational needs (SEN) education, many disabled children are still losing out on access to proper education. Talking about their school days in the late nineties, Holly tells Metro: 'There was no form of encouragement; they would just dump me in a corner, isolated, then push me to my next lesson to get dumped again. 'School was something I had to endure rather than taking anything from and nobody taught me about reasonable adjustments, so I had no idea I could ask for them at work opportunities.' When Holly did get their first work experience at a pharmacy as an assistant, it was cut short due to physical pain. 'By the end of the first week, I just burst into tears because I was in too much pain,' they say. 'That was the point when I realised that I didn't know what I was going to do because my body clearly couldn't handle traditional employment.' Research shows that approximately 28% of UK workers use a hybrid model of work, splitting time between home and the office, and around 13% of workers are fully remote. While this may feel like a step towards workplace inclusivity, Holly believes that it doesn't address the base issue: without being able to gain meaningful work placement in the first place, it's nigh on impossible to secure a job – remote or not. 'How am I ever going to compete in a job market where I'll never have the same amount of experience as an able-bodied person of the same age? Last time I went for a remote position, I was fighting against 321 people; it's no wonder that I didn't get it,' says Holly. While the rights of disabled people at work are protected under the Equality Act 2010, many are unaware that they are eligible for support. For example, the government grant scheme Access to Work helps cover additional costs for employers and employees with health issues. In 2023/24, it supported nearly 50,000 people, but the system is under immense pressure. The average wait time for assistance is currently 12 to 16 weeks, with some waiting up to 30 weeks. 'Although it can be life-changing when it works well, delays, poor communication, and inconsistent decision-making have left many unable to access the support they need,' explains Sue Wray. 'In some cases, people have had to turn down employment opportunities altogether due to waiting months for the assistance they were entitled to.' Keighley is one of the scheme's success stories. When her second son was born deaf in 2015, she wanted to lead by example and show him that he could achieve anything he wanted, so set her sights on becoming a childminder. 'In past customer service jobs, I would lose commissions because I'd have to pass clients over to colleagues when I couldn't hear them – but then I met a wonderful lady who was a childminder who offered me a job,' she says. 'Around that time, I also learned about Access to Work and realised that when the time came, I could set up my own childminding business with the right support.' Keighley has since founded her own business, which provides communication support workers for 40 hours a week, enabling her to communicate effectively with parents. But, Keighley stresses, she only found out about Access to Work after meeting other deaf adults at a group for deaf toddlers and children. 'I came across it by chance,' she says. Another government initiative, the Disability Confident scheme, encourages employers to think differently; however, Jane Hatton, CEO and founder of EvenBreak, a not-for-profit career support service for disabled people, believes it 'lacks accountability and meaningful benchmarks'. 'Disability Confident rightly acknowledges that employers must become more inclusive, she adds, 'but data shows that those employers [who have] become 'Disability Confident' don't employ more disabled people than others, so the label is largely symbolic.' EvenBreak is one of the numerous non-governmental organisations making significant efforts to close the gap by collaborating with job seekers and employers to provide support and resources that enhance inclusivity and accessibility. Hamelin is another, and has launched an initiative called Ability Works to support autistic adults and individuals with learning disabilities in securing employment. One person benefitting, is Ederson Silva, 45, who had to start from scratch following an accident that made him a wheelchair user. As the main provider for his family, Ederson had to return to work because even after 30 years of pension contributions, the support provided wouldn't cover the basic needs of his family. However, he tells Metro, he found it challenging to convince recruiters and employers of his employability. 'Vacancies for people with disabilities tend to be very limited; this was the biggest challenge, there are simply fewer opportunities,' he explains from his home in Broughton. 'I was fortunate to have over 22 years of prior experience in my field, and working in a specialised area made it more attractive for companies to value my expertise despite my disability.' After getting in touch with STEM Returners, Ederson was contacted with a 12-week placement opportunity and the scheme supported him through every step. 'At the end, I had the opportunity to become a permanent member of the team and I took it,' he adds. 'I had very little hope of being able to provide a dignified life for my family again. Now, I feel once again a respected professional in the workforce. Being able to give my family the dignity they deserve has been life-changing.' Meanwhile, Holly has joined a UK government initiative called The Work and Health Programme but admits the process is incredibly frustrating. 'It was absolute murder to try and get on it; I'd phone up the DWP hotline and most of them didn't even know the scheme existed,' Holly explains. Although the initiative helped them write a CV and get interviews, no job offers followed. 'I always get great feedback – but they still go with someone who has more experience every time,' she says. 'I feel used as part of a tick box exercise for employers to show that they've looked at disabled people for the job.' Following the announcement of Labour's numerous plans to help disabled people return to work, a DWP spokesperson told Metro: 'We are determined to bring down the disability employment gap and to do this, our £1 billion reforms will help sick or disabled out of poverty and our Keep Britain Working review will provide recommendations for government and employers on how they can better support disabled people and those with ill health who are at risk of falling out of work.' Despite this apparent will to close the gap, many experts feel the solution remains unclear. Others also warn that the government's approach does not take into account some disabled and chronically ill people. More Trending 'If we're serious about closing that gap, we need practical, properly funded support that's delivered efficiently and designed with disabled people, not just for them,' says Sue Wray. 'The Connect to Work programme [a new government initiative to help disabled people move into and maintian work] might be a step towards this, but we remain unconvinced that the level of funding is sufficient to make any significant headway, especially as providers are asked to deliver support for a very broad group of jobseekers, including people with mental health conditions, ex-offenders and care leavers, within a relatively small financial envelope.' 'The government needs to stop cutting essential support and start strengthening what already exists,' adds Jane Hatton. 'Just as importantly, the narrative needs to change. 'The idea that disabled people choose not to work is simply untrue and deeply damaging. The government should lead by example and employ more disabled people directly to show what inclusive hiring really looks like.' MORE: Want the ultimate wedding makeup? Charlotte Tilbury's bridal services are the perfect choice! MORE: SURI just dropped the ultimate oral-care bundle – and it's a must for travel MORE: Is 'powder conditioner' the secret to better hair? We unpack the waterless wonder
Times
4 hours ago
- Times
Times letters: PM's backing for a third runway at Heathrow
Write to letters@ Sir, Your leading article ('Cleared for Takeoff', Aug 1) and the cogently argued business commentary by Alistair Osborne ('Heathrow runway is an expensive folly', Aug 1) both admit that Heathrow should not be there in the first place. Indeed, and if one is in a hole any sensible reaction would be to stop digging. We all know that the costs of £21 billion for the runway and £12 billion on top of that for another terminal will end up hugely inflated, and that the upgrades necessary for transportation to and from Heathrow will incur further enormous expenditure. Sooner or later there will be a catastrophe when an aircraft crashes on London, made all the more likely when power failures and control systems can cause such mayhem. Ministers' lip service to environmental considerations is further exposed as James Stevens CurlHolywood, Co Down Sir, You report that 'work is under way within the government to curb the ability of environmental groups and other campaigners to bring legal challenges against national infrastructure projects' ('M25 could be relocated 'overnight' to build a third Heathrow runway', Aug 1). One can only wonder what Labour would have said had the Conservatives tried to bring in such HartRickmansworth, Herts Sir, Old campaigners against a third runway at Heathrow will now have to dust off their posters and letters of protest: clearly we are all going to have to go through the old arguments again. Nothing appears to have happened to change the Department for Transport's own study. This suggested that if more airport capacity were really needed then on both economic and environmental grounds it should be at McLuskeyAshford, Middx Sir, Proposals for a third runway at Heathrow and another at Gatwick are misguided. The skies over southeast England are already overcrowded and new runways will simply increase the problem. The answer is to build a five-runway, state-of-the-art airport in the Thames Estuary, with fast rail links. This would serve our needs for the next century. Heathrow and Gatwick could then be closed down, freeing up land for much-needed PrattStorrington, W Sussex Sir, It astounds me that whenever the disruption and cost of expanding Heathrow is discussed there is never any mention of Birmingham airport. It is located in a relatively unpopulated area with a mainline rail station and good public access: it is next to motorway links and is about an hour from the capital by car or train. But of course, it's not London — silly JohnsonWolverhampton Sir, I wonder if my children will have retired by the time the third runway at Heathrow is operational? In China, or indeed France, the planning and construction would be rapidly accomplished. No one would expect that in the ValePewsey, Wilts Sir, Having seen the PM's plans for a third runway at Heathrow, perhaps Sir Humphrey should whisper in his ear: 'Remember HS2.'Martin WrightChinnor, Oxon Sir, Italians will be aware that most of the projects Edward Lucas praises in his article were actually initiated before 2022, the year Giorgia Meloni became prime minister ('Confident Italy shows us how to bounce back', comment, Jul 31). She inherited a €198 billion loan from the EU, which I suspect Rachel Reeves would welcome and do good things with. If Lucas were to come further south on holiday he would find unemployment in the eight provinces of southern Italy 10 per cent higher than the richer north that he visited. A total of 18.9 per cent of Italians live in poverty, and the figure is increasing. GDP per capita has not increased since Meloni became PM and government debt as a share of GDP has increased under her Gozi MEPFormer Italian secretary of state for European Affairs Sir, Edward Lucas's overenthusiastic assessment of Italy's thriving and booming economy overlooks the simple and very sad fact that Italy still offers very few opportunities for young people, even those with university degrees. They find it easier to find a job in a café in London than in Milan or Rome. It's still pretty impossible to get a position at an Italian university if one lacks a powerful backer. Bright scientists and academics instead flock to the US or the UK. Nasa, for example, has many Italians working there as do many Ivy League universities, as well as Oxford and Salvatore Santagati (PhD, LSE)London W1 Sir, Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Rees-Mogg may have better luck than my wife (TMS, Jul 31). A couple of years ago my wife was dropping off a bag for her brother at the Cavalry and Guards Club. The doorman took one look at the jeans she was wearing and before she could say a word politely pointed out that the RAF Club was next door.J Martin ScottShaftesbury, Dorset Sir, The fall in numbers of students studying modern languages is indeed dire (news, Jul 31; letter, Aug 1). I agree with Nick Hillman of the Higher Education Policy Institute that the withdrawal of the compulsory study of languages was 'probably the worst educational policy of this century'. A wider grasp of the heritage of Europe (and at degree level, training in cogently assembling a wide range of facts) is useful in many professions. Megan Bowler is right that a 'linguistic mindset fosters vital skills'. Indeed, many of my students leave university for successful careers in journalism and the law and are destined for the higher echelons of management and government. We will not re-establish meaningful relationships with our neighbours with the 'island mentality' that, at present, inhibits those in secondary education from an understanding of the cultural infrastructure and substratum of Bourne-TaylorAssociate professor of French, and fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford Sir, I have no doubt that AI has a part to play in making prisons safer ('AI predicts risk from violent inmates before jail attacks happen', Jul 31) but removing drugs from jails by using drug wands, sniffer boxes and DroneGuard, while disabling mobile phones and reducing overcrowding, will have a greater effect. Tasers will have an impact during riots and concerted acts of indiscipline but not on immediate acts of violence as they won't be to hand. The most effective way to reduce the risk of violence is by staff developing good relationships with prisoners. Inexperienced staff in overcrowded prisons are merely BerryRet'd prison governor, Countesthorpe, Leics Sir, Martin Samuel is right ('Rushing this Test series off stage has robbed it of the players we pay to see', Aug 1). Test matches — the pinnacle of the sport — are being wrecked by the thoughtless compression of scheduling and now we will have no cricket for a month, all to make room for a spectacle said to be crowd-pleasing and money-making, although it is curious that no other cricketing nation has shown the remotest interest in the Hundred. The ECB has done a fine job of destroying our national DykeLondon N21 Sir, I agree with David A De Saxe (letter, Aug 1) that modern bats improve batting. But surely the main reason batting has improved is the use of helmets, which enable batsmen to face fast bowling without risk of serious EvansTunbridge Wells, Kent Sir, Contrary to Raymond Gubbay's suggestion ('Albert Hall seats', letter, Jul 31), the National Lottery were on the ball. Like all seat holders, while I did gain from the lottery funding improvements I was obliged to pay a proportionate share of the GilbertMarlow, Bucks Sir, Aside from pay erosion, the incentives for resident doctors to change tack career-wise are well described (letters, Jul 28–31), but there is a new one. Why wouldn't a recently qualified doctor with a huge student debt and possibly a young family consider switching to one of the new physician assistant roles? The pay is considerably better, the post comes with job security and comprehensive senior medical supervision, and there is no need for regular exams or to move around the country every couple of years while working nights and weekends as a matter of routine. That is regardless of the intense work pressure endured by these young resident doctors daily, hundreds of whom are now finding that there are no NHS jobs for them anyway after their first two years of hospital practice (news, Jul 30). The only downside is that the NHS would soon run out of GPs and hospital RP ColeNHS consultant surgeon, Salisbury Sir, Katie Glass raises hopes for many in making a few quid from renting her home ('I'm sleeping in a caravan so I can put my cottage on Airbnb', Times2, Jul 28). Potential followers of her advice would be well advised to check with local planning requirements and their home insurance policy before proceeding. Such moves may be below the radar but not above the planning HoweRhossili, Gower Peninsula Sir, Every good wish to the new Archbishop of Wales ('Church elects gay, female archbishop', Jul 31). As well as being informed of her employment history and views on sexuality, I'm sure some of us would be glad to know whether she speaks CorkettBangor, Gwynedd Sir, My Uncle Charlie worked on the Cowes chain ferry in the 1950s and had an index and middle finger missing (letter, Aug 1). As he explained: 'I was trying to pick a stray fag packet out of the chains while we were crossing the river. I just thought I could do it, quick like.' I relayed this story to the newly promoted chain ferry master when I met him in the 1980s. 'Oh yes?', he said, holding up his three- digit right hand. 'You mean like this?'Suzie MarwoodLondon SW6 Sir, I can definitely support the theory of ditching a flashy car for a small hatchback to woo women (news, Jul 31). I owned an MG Midget in the 1960s and had no luck in attracting the right sort of woman, but on the day I swapped it for a Hillman Imp I met the woman who is now my wife. We are still happily married RussellHarpenden, Herts Write to letters@
