On Tuesday 20th of May The House of Commons witnessed the first major debate of this Parliament concerning gay gights. As such it provided an interesting insight into the positions of our political parties and also into the views of Yorkshire and Derbyshire MPs.

The Conservative front bench had decided to propose amendments to a bill barring women from having access to IVF treatment unless they agreed that a ‘father figure’ would be involved in the upbringing of their child. This was only one amendment to a list of controversial measures in the Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. It was seen by many as an attempt to restrict the rights of lesbian mothers. All MPs were given a free vote. On the night there was a passionate debate and eventually the amendment was defeated. Only two local MPs spoke in the debate, Chris McCafferty (Lab Calder Valley) and Phil Willis (Lib Dem Harrogate) both of whom spoke against the move.

So how did our MPs vote? The general rule nationally was that the majority of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs opposed the measure whilst the vast majority of Tory MPs supported the move. There were some honourable exceptions to this including George Osbourne the Shadow Chancellor.

Locally all our Tory MPs who were there voted in favour of the move whilst all the Liberal Democrats including Nick Clegg (Sheffield Hallam) opposed. Amongst Labour MPs the situation was slightly more confused. Reflecting the national situation the majority of Labour MPs opposed the measure. There were a small number who did vote to restrict the rights of lesbians and single women. These included John Battle (Leeds West), John Grogan (Selby), George Mudie (Leeds East) and Marsha Singh (Bradford West). They were joined by David Blunkett (Sheffield Brightside) who has always held deeply suspect views on gay rights.

Most worryingly it would appear that the Conservatives are returning to their ‘traditional values’ platform. If the opinion polls are to be believed, a Tory Government is becoming more and more likely. Voting patterns like these must be a matter of deep concern.

John Rossington