[Ann Winterton in the Chair] — Abortion Law (Northern Ireland)
Westminster Hall debates, 15 July 2009, 9:30 am
Martin Salter (Reading West, Labour)
No, I will not.
The single exceptions are Anna Lo from the Alliance party and Dawn Purvis from the Progressive Unionist party. I have immense respect for those two people, who have shown great courage in standing up for what they believe in. Other politicians in Northern Ireland, particularly in the Assembly, share their views, but in the prevailing atmosphere people feel that it is difficult to express them, or they feel uncomfortable doing so. We all understand that; we are all under pressure from our electors.
We should all be concerned about this matter. It is a human rights issue. It is staggering that anyone can sit back and believe that it is okay to treat certain United Kingdom citizens as second-class citizens, purely on the basis of where they live. This is happening to women in Northern Ireland on a daily basis.
Devolution is a good thing, and I have no doubt that the devolution argument will be made today.