Catholic politicians piss and moan

[Rye]

Torygraph

Gordon Brown is facing a rebellion by Roman Catholic Cabinet ministers over Government plans for a Bill on embryo research.

The Bill going through Parliament will reform the fertility laws and allow lesbian couples to be registered as legal parents - a move that has been attacked by the Roman Catholic Church.

Labour MPs will be under a three-line whip to back the legislation. Cabinet ministers are normally bound by collective responsibility to vote for any Government Bill.

But three senior Cabinet ministers - Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, and Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary - threaten to resist the order because of their religious beliefs.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is a key part of the legislative programme announced in the Queen's Speech.

The Prime Minister and Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, have both championed it, saying it is vital in the search for cures for conditions such as motor neurone disease and cystic fibrosis.

The Bill will allow the creation of animal-human embryos - created by injecting animal cells or DNA into human embryos or human cells into animal eggs - to be used in medical research and then discarded.

That has outraged Catholic leaders, who insist that hybrid embryos, known as "chimeras", be regarded as human and their mothers should be allowed to give birth to them.

Mr Brown had considered allowing MPs a free vote on specific issues, but decided that would anger other MPs who had previously stayed loyal to the Government.

However, the Cabinet revolt has forced him to think again. One solution now being considered is giving MPs the option of abstaining in the key vote on the Bill.

Some staunch Catholic MPs say even being allowed to abstain is not enough and instead want to be free to vote against the Bill, or amend it to remove some measures.

A Government source said last night: "This is a vital Bill and the Prime Minister has taken a close interest.

"That means we have to get it through. But when you are talking about people's religious beliefs, particularly among Cabinet ministers, then it creates problems."

The threatened revolt would be Mr Brown's first as Prime Minister and he will be desperate to find a solution.

The Bill, to be voted on within the next two months, has already been delayed to try to reach a compromise.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, has given his MPs a free vote. But Mr Brown is resisting such a move.

The recent promotion of Mr Murphy to Welsh Secretary has brought the issue to a head. He is considered the most devout Catholic in Cabinet.

Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary and another Catholic, is understood to have raised no objections.

In the legislation, ministers propose to remove the requirement on fertility clinics to consider the "need for a father" before providing IVF treatment.

The Bill also states that where a lesbian couple have engaged in a civil partnership, both will be entered as the legal parents.

The Catholic peer Lord Alton said Mr Brown's commitment to impose a three-line whip on the Bill was "manifestly wrong".

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England, wrote in January calling for "flexibility in the Bill".

Miss Kelly's faith has frequently been at the centre of public controversy.

A mother of four, Miss Kelly, 38, has been reported to be a member of Opus Dei, the Catholic organisation.

When she was Communities Secretary and the Cabinet minister responsible for equalities policy, she was criticised by gay rights groups for refusing to say if she believed homosexuality was a sin.

Miss Kelly was said to be arguing within the Government last year for Catholic adoption agencies to be exempt from equality laws forcing them to offer children to adoption by gay couples.

Withholding written comment (for now) and delivering it via telepathy instead.

[wjs7744]

Yes, it's true, we have fundie nutjobs over here too. I've never personally got why obviously scientific matters like this are any business of the government anyway.