Latest news with #ChrisCoghlan
Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Catholic MP warns of ‘witch hunt' over assisted dying bill
An MP whose priest denied him communion for voting for assisted dying has warned of a 'witch hunt' of fellow Catholic politicians. Chris Coghlan's priest wrote to him before the House of Commons vote to legalise assisted dying, warning he would be 'obstinately persevering' in sin if he supported the bill. Coghlan, a Liberal Democrat, supported the bill despite the threats. It has passed the Commons and will start its journey through the House of Lords in September. Fr Ian Vane, the priest, went on to give three masses publicly denouncing Coghlan for his decision. Coghlan called for disciplinary sanctions against Vane. Senior figures in the church are understood to have ruled that the priest was within his rights to make the decision, but they are unhappy that the issue was not dealt with in private. Coghlan said the incident shows there was a 'conflict of interest' for Catholic MPs and Lords. 'I know of at least 13 other Catholic MPs who voted either for assisted dying or to decriminalise abortion, and there appears to be a public witch hunt', Coghlan said. 'The Catholic press is pushing for them to be denied communion as well. 'But we're not here as Catholic MPs, we're here to represent our constituents … this is a clear attempt to meddle with the political process by the church.' Religion was as strong a predictor of how an MP would vote on the assisted dying bill as the party they belong to. Some 57 per cent of Christian MPs opposed the bill, including 74 per cent of Catholics, compared with 18 per cent of non-believers. Coghlan, who represents Dorking and Horley in Surrey, said that MPs should be forced to declare their membership of a faith before discussing life issues like abortion and assisted dying. 'In the same way that if you own shares in a company and you're talking about that company in a debate, you would declare that conflict of interest beforehand. And you probably would not vote either. 'I think it's a major problem for parliament in that we have this bill going through right now and the actions of Catholic parliamentarians could have a material impact on that. 'It is incredibly important for public trust in parliament, that parliamentarians are able to demonstrate that they're acting in the best interests of their constituents or the country in the case of the Lords. 'It is hard to see how that is the case if they're also being required by their faith to vote in a certain way, with the threat of public disciplinary sanctions as happened to me, and looks like may happen to other MPs.' • Assisted dying: 8 practical questions MPs still need to answer Under the laws of the Roman Catholic church, priests 'cannot deny the sacraments to those who seek them at appropriate times', but there can be exceptions. One law, Canon 915, forbids a priest from administering Holy Communion to those who have been excommunicated or formally barred from the sacrament and also from those they judge to 'obstinately persist in manifest grave sin'. This gives a priest the right to use their discretion. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, had repeatedly called on Catholics to put pressure on their MPs to oppose the assisted dying bill, but no Catholic bishop or archbishop has been willing to comment publicly on Vane's decision to refuse communion to Coghlan, deeming it to be a matter for the local diocese of Arundel and Brighton. The priest and diocese were approached for comment. The Diocese of Arundel and Brighton said that neither would provide any further is understood, however, that some senior figures in the English and Welsh church feel the priest should have taken greater heed of the late Pope Francis's words in 2016 when he said: 'There is a need to avoid judgements which do not take into account the complexity of various situations.' • How did your MP vote on assisted dying? Vane's move to publicly declare his decision to his congregation during a mass service is understood to have caused greater consternation among senior clerics. A source said that priests were expected to share the church's teaching and 'accompany individuals' while they are making important decisions, but that this should take place 'in a sheltered environment and not in the glare of public attention'. In the meantime, Coghlan said, his family had been 'devastated' by the episode. 'The priest gave my daughter her first communion, children from her class were in the congregation, so for him to come out and try and publicly humiliate me … it's difficult not to feel very angry. 'He didn't respect the fact that I'm simply trying to do my job as an MP. We get enough abuse as MPs — you don't expect it from your own priest.'
Telegraph
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Chris Coghlan might be the most spineless MP in Britain
Saint Bartholomew was flayed alive. Saint Peter was crucified upside down. Saint John Fisher was beheaded. Chris Coghlan is worried he might have to send his children to a different school, and boy is he upset about it. Having been denied communion by his priest after voting for assisted dying, the Liberal Democrat MP has become the latest in an ignoble series of politicians to realise belatedly that 'Catholic' isn't just a box ticked on an application form, but a religion with rules and moral principles. 'I thought an MP could keep their religion private', Mr Coghlan wrote on X, 'but there's been some discussion about mine. If there isn't space in the Catholic Church for those who don't subscribe to all of it, that's a shame'. Here's the rub: there isn't. If you want a religion where you are free to act against the moral teachings of the Church in accordance with your own conscience, and protest the authority that those teachings carry, you are probably looking for some variety of Protestantism. The clue is in the name. Catholicism, on the other hand, is what we might call a package deal. Your children get to go to the Catholic state school they attend, with the priest 'signing off' the forms, but you don't get to vote for the state killing the sick and the elderly without incurring a measure of rebuke. And a measure of rebuke is essentially what this is. Mr Coghlan seems to view the priest's action as 'an attempt to coerce a Member of Parliament in their voting intention', but it would be better seen as an expression of the view that he, through his own actions, has separated himself from God, and needs to seek reconciliation through confession. And that due to the manner in which his actions were taken, there is some public recognition of that separation. That's really all it is. The risk that the priest will cease signing school forms for a man who quietly attends a Catholic church in prayer seems minimal. And yet one gets the impression that this won't quite be enough to satisfy Mr Coghlan, who has complained that it 'undermines the legitimacy of religious institutions' when the actions of elected officials incur displeasure from the clergy. On the contrary, it would surely undermine it more if they didn't, but then that's probably the point. What Mr Coghlan has run into is the same problem that bedevilled Tim Farron in his period as party leader: the inherent inability of modern British liberalism to deal with the idea of religion as something people take seriously as a source of moral guidance, rather than as an interesting piece of decoration on fundamentally liberal beliefs. What he appears to want is to be told that he can do what he will in his professional life, with no consequence for his religious status. The result is a sort of de facto Test Act: you must always vote your conscience, you can be religious, but you must never let religion dictate your conscience. This is, obviously, absurd on its own terms, and as a train of thought: asked to entrust my life to the accumulated moral judgements of two millennia of some of the West's brightest minds, or the 2024 Westminster intake's understanding of 19th century moral philosophy, and I am going to take my chances with the former. If nothing else, traditional Christian moral beliefs are battle-tested in a way their would-be replacements are not, having guided successful societies for centuries. Many aspects of Liberalism, on the other hand, appear to be self-destructing in spectacular fashion on contact with the reality of human nature. All this, however, is somewhat beside the point, which is that it is shamefully gutless to take an action which has defined consequences, and then appear to attempt to use public pressure to coerce a priest into going against the teachings of his faith because it made you feel bad. Mr Coghlan can either go to confession and end this drama in a heartbeat. Or he can continue his press tour and his social media commentary. No man can serve two masters. He cannot worship God and JS Mill at the same time. Pick one.
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
MP says he is being denied communion over assisted dying vote
An MP says he is being denied communion by his local catholic priest after he voted in favour of the assisted dying Coghlan, the Liberal Democrat MP for Dorking and Horley in Surrey, backed the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, which was approved in the House of Commons with a majority of 23 MPs earlier this Coghlan said Father Ian Vane, the priest at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Dorking, wrote to him before the vote, and then last week told people attending mass that he would be refusing him Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton said Bishop Richard Moth had spoken to the MP and offered to meet him to "discuss the issues and concerns raised". Mr Coghlan told BBC Radio Surrey that he and his family were not in the church in person to hear the priest, but that people who were there had contacted him to say they were "pretty appalled"."It is one thing to take a view on an MPs vote on a conscience vote in Parliament, it is quite another to go out and publicly name and shame them, as a Catholic priest, to hundreds of their constituents," he Coghlan added that he had thought "carefully" about the vote, and that he felt "utterly disillusioned" by what had happened. In a statement, the local diocese said the issue "was a complex one for all involved", and that it recognised "the difficult task faced by MPs in seeking to represent their constituents".It said Bishop Moth had urged clergy to write to MPs "in a private capacity" to express their concerns about the bill, and to ask them to vote against added: "The Catholic Church believes in the sanctity of life and the dignity of every person."The legislation, which also needs to pass through the House of Lords, would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with six months or less to live to get medical assistance to end their own lives.
Daily Record
30-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
PIP assessment tips for people due a consultation over the phone, in-person or by video call
DWP plans to increase the number of face-to-face assessments, but will still offer alternative consultation methods. The UK Government recently announced planned changes to eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will not affect existing claimants and will only apply to people making a new claim for the disability benefit from November 2026. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) also said it will work with disability groups to create a 'fairer' welfare system. However, proposals in the 'Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working' Green Paper also include increasing the number of face-to-face PIP assessments for new and existing claimants due an award review. Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms, also recently confirmed that the DWP remains 'committed to enabling a multi-channel assessment approach' but the focus will be on ramping up in-person PIP assessments. DWP will continue to offer telephone and video calling consultations. He added that 'the feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance, for all cases' adding that 'where a paper-based review is not possible the claimant will be invited to an assessment '. In his written response to Liberal Democrat MP Chris Coghlan, he went on to say that before an invitation to an assessment is sent, 'consideration will be given to claimants who need a specific assessment channel due to their health condition or circumstances'. Sir Stephen continued: 'Other claimants who can undertake any assessment type will be allocated to the next available appointment; however, this can be changed if the claimant informs us that a reasonable adjustment is appropriate in their circumstances. 'The Department audits Functional Assessment Service suppliers to ensure that the correct PIP assessment channel type has been selected for the claimant. This provides assurance that claimants are routed to the most appropriate assessment type.' PIP Assessment Providers Online guidance enables people due a health assessment to check which provider will conduct their assessment. You can check using your area or postcode on here. If you are due a PIP assessment or Work Capability Assessment (WCA), it will be conducted by the following company: Scotland (WCA only) and North England: Maximus UK Services Limited (previously Atos) Midlands and Wales: Capita Business Services (previously Capita) South West England: Serco (previously Atos) South East England, London and East Anglia: Ingeus UK Limited (previously Atos) Northern Ireland: Capita Business Services (previously Capita) What is a PIP assessment? The PIP assessment is an opportunity for you to talk about how your condition affects you - it's not a diagnosis of your condition or a medical examination. The DWP will take into consideration evidence from the assessment to decide if you should be awarded PIP. A health professional will carry out your assessment, write a report and send it to the DWP decision maker. If you are waiting on a review, it's a good idea to have a copy of your PIP evidence form with you for telephone, video and face-to-face assessments. That way you can refer back to it, especially if it was completed a few years ago. Talking about how your condition affects you A helpful guide on the Citizens Advice website says you should be prepared to talk about how your condition affects you even if you've already detailed it on your PIP evidence form (the PIP2 document). This can be hard to do, but it will really help if you can talk about: the kind of things you have difficulty with, or can't do at all - for example, walking up steps without help or remembering to go to appointments how your condition affects you from day to day what a bad day is like for you - for example, 'On a bad day, I can't walk at all because my injured leg hurts so much' or 'On a bad day, I'm so depressed I can't concentrate on anything' Observations on what you say and do during the assessment The assessor will use the information you gave on your PIP claim form but also draw opinions from what you say and do on the day. For example, they might ask you how you got to the centre for a face-to-face assessment - if you say you came on the bus, without further clarification, they could make a note stating you can travel alone on public transport - unless you highlight otherwise. You might also be asked to carry out some physical tasks during the face-to-face assessment. Don't feel you have to do things you wouldn't normally be able to do. If you do them on assessment day, the assessor may think you can always do them, so if you're not comfortable with something - say so. During the telephone assessment you may be asked to describe how you complete simple tasks such as preparing and cooking food, getting washed and dressed and how you move around outside the home. Don't rush to respond, remember they are looking at your claim form and asking the same questions you have already answered. Pause, reflect and reply Break your answer down and take them through how you complete tasks step-by-step to paint an accurate picture of how your disability or health condition affects you. What may seem like a drawn out process for you, will demonstrate exactly how you accomplish tasks to the assessor - so don't try to speed up or simplify how you get things done. The assessor will also make a note of your mental state during the assessment - for example, they will record whether you look or sound depressed or happy, tense or relaxed and how you cope with social interaction. Things to remember during the assessment Don't let the assessor rush you and try not to just answer 'yes' or 'no' to their questions Always try to explain how doing something would make you feel afterwards and the impact it can have on you if you had to do it repeatedly in a short period of time You can have someone with you while you do the assessment over the phone, on the video call or in person, just remember to put the call on loudspeaker and advise the assessor who is with you. Taking someone with you to a face-to-face assessment for support The DWP has guidance on attending an assessment, which you can find on the website here. You can take someone with you into the actual assessment if they are 16 or over. This could be anyone who makes you feel more comfortable, like a friend, relative or carer. If you want, they can take part in discussions and make notes for you. Before going to a face-to-face assessment Check with your assessment provider that your assessment centre has everything you need - if it doesn't, you can ask for it. This can help make you feel more comfortable on the day. Here are a few examples: ask if you will have to go upstairs, and if there's a lift that can accommodate a wheelchair if you need one ask how roomy the centre is if you get anxious in enclosed spaces - if the rooms or corridors are small, tell them this could make you anxious and see what they can offer you ask for an interpreter or signer if you need one - do this at least two working days before your assessment so they have time to organise it ask for the person carrying out the assessment to be the same gender as you, if that's important to you ask if you can make an audio recording of the assessment - you must do this three days before your assessment and ask your provider about the rules for using recording equipment Changing the venue If the location of your face-to-face assessment is more than 90 minutes away by public transport and you have difficulty travelling long distances, you might be offered an alternative location or home visit. Again, refer to the published guidance on as it includes travel restriction advice for Scotland, England and Wales.
Spectator
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Should Chris Coghlan be denied Holy Communion?
It is not, it's fair to say, a universal view among Catholic priests that MPs who vote the wrong way on assisted dying and the decriminalisation of abortion up to birth should be punished by excluding them from communion. But so it has turned out with Chris Coghlan, the Lib Dem MP for Dorking and Horley. He voted for assisted suicide and didn't vote at all on the Antoniazzi amendment allowing women to abort up to birth. Now he's complaining that his parish priest is intent on denying him communion at mass. Or as he put it on X: My Catholic Priest publicly announced at every mass he was denying me Holy Communion following the assisted dying vote. Children who are friends of my children were there. This followed a direct threat in writing to do this four days before the vote. In a piece in the Observer, he explained: I was deeply disturbed to receive an email from my local priest four days before the vote on Kim Leadbeater's assisted dying bill saying if I voted in favour I would be 'an obstinate public sinner'. Worse, I would be complicit in a 'murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded'. Such a vote would, he wrote, be 'a clear contravention of the Church's teaching, which would leave me in the position of not being able to give you holy communion, as to do so would cause scandal in the Church. The priest is in fact entitled to deny communion to those 'obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin' under canon 915 of the Code of Canon law. And plainly, in terms of the teaching of the Church, anyone voting to pass a law for assisted suicide – giving someone poison for the specific purpose of doing away with themselves, as opposed to, say, refusing life support – runs counter to the teaching of the Church in the most public possible way. The priest was arguably correct to describe him as complicit in a murderous act, though Chris Coghlan himself maintains that assisted suicide (whereby a practitioner presents the patient with a lethal dose of barbiturates or some other cocktail of toxins) is different from direct euthanasia, whereby someone, for instance, injects the patient with toxins directly. I'm not sure that's quite the distinction he thinks it is; a murderous act pretty well covers giving someone a lethal dose of poison, even if it's actually delivered by the would-be suicide (let's see how long that provision lasts). And voting to legalise this process is as morally culpable as taking part in it. The question is, whether a public denunciation is the best way to go about changing hearts and minds, even those of self-regarding LibDems. My nice liberal priest friend thinks Coghlan's priest 'is a prat and he should be ashamed of himself. It goes against everything we stand for; we're not in the business of publicly punishing people. The man presumably was following the dictates of conscience, which is the first law. I don't think it helps the church and I don't think it helps this particular chap to change his mind.' And naturally, my liberal clerical friend quotes the late Pope Francis on the matter, to the effect that 'communion is not a reward for the perfect but medicine for the soul'. That's one way of looking at it; the other, more conventional view, is that you shouldn't take the eucharist if you're in a state of grave sin. (Me, I'd like to see that definition more widely applied.) But all this fuss tends to distract, I think, from the actual issue as to whether the Church's approach to assisted suicide is right. And there's absolutely nothing in the bishops' statements on the issue that is specifically religious. That is to say, the Catholic and, I'd say, the Christian view, is nothing else than the moral view that people who aren't remotely religious can share. You may not, like the bishops, regard life as a gift from God, but there's nothing specifically Catholic about their concerns: Can MPs guarantee that the scope of the Bill will not be extended? In almost every country where assisted suicide has been introduced the current scope is wider than was originally intended. What role, if any, will the judiciary have in the process? We were told that judicial oversight was a necessary and vital part of the process; now we are told it isn't needed at all. What will protect the vulnerable from coercion, or from feeling a burden on family? Can the National Health Service cope with assisted suicide or will it, as the Health Secretary has warned, cause cuts elsewhere in the NHS? Can MPs guarantee that no medical practitioner or care worker would be compelled to take part in assisted suicide? Would this mean the establishment of a 'national death service'? In contrast to the provisions of this Bill, what is needed is first-class, compassionate palliative care at the end of our lives. This is already provided to many in our society but, tragically, is in short supply and underfunded. No-one should be dispatched as a burden to others. Instead, a good society would prioritise care for the elderly, the vulnerable, and the weak. As Cardinal Nichols put it: Once assisted suicide is approved by the law, a key protection of human life falls away. Pressure mounts on those who are nearing death, from others or even from themselves, to end their life in order to take away a perceived burden of care from their family, for the avoidance of pain, or for the sake of an inheritance. The radical change in the law now being proposed risks bringing about for all medical professionals a slow change from a duty to care to a duty to kill. Even Chris Coghlan might concede that much. This is why it's so insanely annoying that he's trotting out the usual canards about Catholicism in public life. 'I am not the Catholic MP for Dorking and Horley. I am the Liberal Democrat MP for Dorking and Horley,' he writes, a la John F. Kennedy. But there is nothing specifically religious about the Church's position – if you exclude that bit about life being God's gift. It is one which any conscientious individual might take on prudent and rational grounds, without any spiritual motivation whatever, unless we are to assume that concern for vulnerable people is a Christian prerogative. Coghlan doesn't need to swank about not being bossed about by priests – a position highly gratifying to any English parliamentarian, invoking all sorts of latent prejudice – but instead he should ask himself whether the Church itself has a point. Its argument isn't arcanely religious unless it's arcanely religious to say that human life is sacred. By turning this into a Martin Luther moment – Coghlan stands up to bossy cleric – he is distracting attention from the fact that he voted for a measure which will diminish the value of human life at its most vulnerable. I don't in fact think the priest is being helpful here, though he was perfectly within his rights to warn Chris Coghlan that his vote was at odds with his faith. Publicly condemning him risks turning this rather tiresome Lib Dem into some sort of poster boy for the rights of conscience. But conscience can be a tricky organ; influenced by fashion and opinion as well as by an innate moral sense. Right now, the real problem isn't whether Coghlan will be turned away from the altar rail; it's whether institutions such as Catholic hospices will be required to participate in assisted suicide or whether they will in fact receive specific protection by law to prevent that happening. If they are required to participate in helping people kill themselves, they'll have to close. Over to you, Chris 'Compassion' Coghlan.
