I thank the hon. Lady. I am only disappointed because I was sort of hoping for a proposal; but I completely agree with the point that she makes. Indeed, she prefigures something that I shall come on to. We are spending money because of our failure to tackle those human rights issues—money that could be going into public services in Northern Ireland, but instead will be spent upholding the situation that she describes. I want to come on to that, and what that practically means for the Secretary of State.
We know that cases are currently going through the courts as a direct result of this situation. In 2013, the mother of a 15-year-old was prosecuted under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 for procuring abortion pills for her under-age daughter. The mother was prosecuted following the appointment with her daughter and a GP. That decision is now being judicially reviewed, so there is a live case, which the UK Government will spend money to defend as a result of the provisions of the Bill before us.
Today, we know that the UK Government have been formally notified that A and B, a mother and daughter from Northern Ireland, are taking their battle to the European Court of Human Rights. They are challenging the refusal to allow women from Northern Ireland access to abortion services free of charge in England and have issued legal proceedings against the English Health Secretary. Six years ago, they were forced to raise £900 to travel from Northern Ireland to Manchester in order for B to be treated at a private clinic. I absolutely share the sentiments of my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth) about the importance of value for money within our politics. On the public purse, the crucial thing in this case is that an offer was made to settle with the Government. There was an offer not to proceed with this kind of spending, but the Government have refused. They have ignored the requests to settle this case, even though the law has subsequently changed. That means that public money that could be going on public services in Northern Ireland will be spent contesting that case.
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We also know that under this legislation public money has been spent on raids: raids on people to find the pills; and raids on women who are trying to help other women in Northern Ireland. We know that 28 women a week are coming across to have an abortion in this country, so we know this is a very live issue, because they are only the ones who can afford to travel, who can travel because they have the travel documents, and who are not in an abusive relationship and can leave to come to England and Wales without being in trouble. We know that in 2017, on International Women’s Day, of all days, the PSNI carried out a number of searches and seizures connected to the illegal purchase of abortion pills online. So as women were celebrating International Women’s Day, our sisters were being arrested because of this legislation written in 1861. Abortion should not be
treated as a criminal matter; it should be treated as a medical matter. Yet because of that legislation, public money was being spent on chasing those women. We have no guarantee that that will not happen again on International Women’s Day this year.
Amendment 1 has not been selected, but we know that there is the same live situation, where public money is being put into court cases, on equal marriage. We know there is a case before the High Court at the moment regarding petitioner X and his husband, who wed in London in 2014. They are attempting to secure a declaration that their marriage remains fully constituted throughout the UK, including in Northern Ireland. That case was appealed at the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal in March 2018 and a judgment is still awaited, so money is still being spent on these cases.
In a case led by Gráinne Close and Shannon Sickles, and Chris and Henry Flanagan-Kane, a claim is being brought against Northern Ireland’s prohibition on same-sex marriage. In August 2017, a High Court judge dismissed the case, after identifying no breach under European law, but that is now being appealed and the case is being heard at the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal. They are currently awaiting a judgment as well.
My point is that this is not a theoretical issue about public money being spent as a result of the Secretary of State’s failure to uphold the basic human rights of the men and women of Northern Ireland. It is a direct, live issue. We heard on Second Reading concerns about the funding that was available for public services in Northern Ireland and about whether appropriate scrutiny was being undertaken. These amendments are trying to deal with that inconsistency where the Government wish somehow to make decisions about spending in Northern Ireland and set out precise sums, but not to uphold the other end of their bargain, which is to do right by the people of Northern Ireland and uphold their human rights.