Gordon Brown announced today that he will, after all, be letting Labour MPs have a free vote on three of the most contentious provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
In doing so, he was in truth bowing to the inevitable, given that at least three of his cabinet ministers, including Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, had signalled that they would resign if any attempt was made to prevent them voting with their consciences.
The climbdown will not, however, be the end of the story. David Cameron has twice challenged the Prime Minister to allow his MPs a free vote and received only evasive answers. Gordon will therefore once again be justifiably open to the accusation of dithering over difficult issues
Worse still, it may be that the government will now be defeated on key elements of what has been talked up as a flagship Bill. If so, the PM will look even weaker.
All in all, a bad day for Gordon.
In doing so, he was in truth bowing to the inevitable, given that at least three of his cabinet ministers, including Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, had signalled that they would resign if any attempt was made to prevent them voting with their consciences.
The climbdown will not, however, be the end of the story. David Cameron has twice challenged the Prime Minister to allow his MPs a free vote and received only evasive answers. Gordon will therefore once again be justifiably open to the accusation of dithering over difficult issues
Worse still, it may be that the government will now be defeated on key elements of what has been talked up as a flagship Bill. If so, the PM will look even weaker.
All in all, a bad day for Gordon.
0 comments:
Post a Comment