Former prisoner of conscience James Mawdsley is helping launch Passion for Life's campaign calling on the Prime Minister to allow votes of conscience on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (HFE Bill).
The Bill is due to be debated in the House of Commons where centuries of tradition have allowed a free vote on matters of conscience. Contrary to that tradition, the Chief Whip Geoff Hoon has previously made it clear that this Bill will be whipped all the way through the Commons just as it was through the Lords.
James Mawdsley spent over a year in solitary confinement in Burma in 1999-2000 for his support of the Burmese people in their struggle for freedom. James said;
"It's outrageous that elected politicians are being threatened to not vote by their conscience on issues of the very sanctity of life, for example the development of animal and human mixed embryos, fatherless children, and the creation of 'saviour' or 'spare part' siblings. For the government to force these issues through Parliament without free votes is dictatorship. Various petitions on the 10 Downing Street website show that the general public has no desire for the HFE Bill but is strongly opposed. The drive is not coming from bottom up, nor really from top down: it is coming as a blindsider, out of nowhere, an injection of mad poison into British society."
In the original HFE Bill in 1990, there were conscience votes throughout all stages, right up to third reading. At Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday (13th March), the Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, challenged the Prime Minister to allow free votes by saying, "...there is an unanswerable case for free votes on matters of conscience. One such example is the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill".
The Prime Minister said that the bill "arose from recommendations made by a joint select committee of the House...we will respect the conscience of every Member of this House".
The Prime Minister has found himself under increasing pressure as it has become clear that the very joint committee he referred to did itself include free votes as one of its recommendations.
James Mawdsley continued;
"If the British government does not know what a human being is, then how can we be advocates for authentic human rights abroad? And if the British government disregards the consciences of our elected MPs then what possible basis remains for trusting the government?
The Prime Minister has said he will make a decision on the way in which votes take place "in due course".
In the last month a petition on the 10 Downing Street website calling for a free vote has rocketed into the top 20 places out of 8,000 petitions. It looks set to go even higher. James Mawdsley is one of many who have signed the petition then e-mailed 10 friends asking them to do the same, e-mailing 10 of their friends, and so on. You can sign the petition here http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/embryovote/
