LABOUR came under intense pressure from both the Catholic Church and the SNP on its moral and religious record yesterday as the campaign for the Glasgow East by-election intensified.
Bishop Joseph Devine, one of the most senior Catholic churchmen in Scotland, hit out at the Labour Party, accusing it of "violating moral law" and "losing ethical credibility" – after a poll gave Labour a 14-point lead in the seat, albeit with a much
narrower gap between it and the SNP than before.
Catholic leaders are furious at Labour MPs' support for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill, which will pave the way for research combining human and animal embryos, and at the party's failure to back a lower time limit for abortions.
Last week, the government postponed a parliamentary debate on the HFE bill, planned for today, amid fears it could dent the Catholic vote in Glasgow East. The bill will not complete its final stages until autumn.
Bishop Devine has written to Labour MPs, claiming that although the government had won a Commons vote on the bill in May, it had "in the process, lost its ethical credibility".
Any attempts the government may have made in keeping the issue off the agenda for the by-election campaign failed yesterday when Margaret Curran, the Labour candidate in Glasgow East, admitted that she would not only back the government line on embryology, but did not see any need to reduce the abortion time limit.
Speaking during the first televised debate between the four main candidates for the by-election, Ms Curran was asked about her stance on the HFE bill. She said: "I have followed the debate and, broadly speaking, I would vote with the government."
On abortion, she said: "As things stand at the moment, I am not persuaded that there is any need to change the current law." This was in marked contrast to her main opponent, John Mason, the SNP candidate, who expressed very strong reservations about the embryology bill and said he wanted to reduce the time limit for abortions.
Also speaking on the Politics Show Scotland debate, Mr Mason said: "I am coming from a faith community background and I am extremely unhappy about any experiments on babies or research, or anything like that."
And asked whether he wanted to reduce the time limit for abortions, he replied: "Yes."
The by-election has been seen, up until now, as a straight fight on politics between Labour and the SNP.
But Glasgow East has one of the highest Catholic populations in the country – more than a third of voters in the last census – and moral issues could play a decisive part in the poll.
Bishop Devine's warnings will probably be heeded by some voters and Mr Mason may be able to capitalise on that, given his decision to come out strongly against the embryology bill and the current abortion time limit.
A poll in the constituency found yesterday that Labour still retained a healthy lead with ten days to go until polling, but it has been eroded by the SNP.
The ICM poll revealed a 15 per cent swing from Labour to the SNP since the last election.
Labour is on 47 per cent, down 14 points from 2005, while the SNP is on 33 per cent, up 16 points. The Liberal Democrats are on 9 per cent and the Tories on 7 per cent.
TV showdown – the winners and losersTHE four main contenders for the Glasgow East by-election clashed in their first televised debate yesterday. This is how they performed:
• John Mason (SNP): Went into the debate with a reputation as the dullest candidate – something he did little to dispel. He looked nervous and slipped up once, claiming that the SNP administration at Holyrood was "a government for small people". Otherwise, he was gaffe free and got his main points across. 7/10
• Davena Rankin (Conservative): Had trouble intervening in the SNP-Labour shouting match, but when she did, she came across as competent and lucid. 7/10
• Margaret Curran (Labour): Was her usual combative, feisty self but she made one gaffe when claiming a swing of 15 per cent to the SNP was "progress". She handled the difficult questions well but should stop blethering so much and get key points across more slowly. 8/10
• Ian Robertson (Liberal Democrat): Emerged as the surprise star of the show. He was effective, forthright and intervened sharply across his opponents. A no-hoper in this by-election – one to watch for the future. 9/10
The full article contains 775 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
