.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Friday, February 01, 2019

Government washes its hands of abortion and same-sex marriage bans in Northern Ireland

The Independent reports that the Northern Ireland Secretary has been accused of misleading MPs about human rights laws, after refusing to act on the province’s bans on abortion and same-sex marriage.

They say that Karen Bradley sparked a backlash when she announced she would not intervene, despite the Commons passing guidance requiring her to take into account “human rights obligations”. She insisted both abortion and marriage law remained matters “for the devolved administration”, and argued Belfast had responsibility for ensuring equal rights despite the Legislative Assembly at Stormont still being suspended, with no sign of it reconvening soon.

The row centres around which administration has responsibility for international human rights obligations. Stella Creasy, the Labour MP who spearheaded the amendment believes that the onus to act lies with Westminster. She has accused the government of putting its pact with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ahead of “the victims of domestic violence”.

She insists that the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), ratified by the UK, requires national government to “fulfil its obligations to all women within its jurisdiction”. and that the 1998 Northern Ireland Act said “obligations under the Human Rights Convention” remained under Westminster’s control:

Ms Creasy told The Independent: “The secretary of state for Northern Ireland tried to slip out a statement absolving her of any responsibility for the human rights of citizens of Northern Ireland.

“Northern Ireland's current abortion law is in breach of human rights. Devolution can be no excuse for denying women in Northern Ireland their human rights.”

The fact that the government refuses to act on this is deplorable. They are keeping in place a system whereby women and those seeking equal marriage in Northern Ireland are effectively second class citizens within their own country, just to placate the DUP. This situation cannot be allowed to continue.
Comments:
There surely should be enough votes for a Private Member's Bill from the Lib Dems, Labour (except Kate Hooey presumably), the SNP and the Plaid with the few Tory Liberals to embarrass the DUP and its Tory fellow travellers to align social policy in the whole of the UK. The Unionist claptrap that Arlene Foster's abominable no men spout could then be rammed down their throats.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?