On Monday 8 March the Children, Schools and Families bill was debated in the House of Lords at second reading. As per parliamentary convention, no vote was taken on the bill and the bill now awaits debate in committee. The imminent general election - almost certainly 6 May - means that the bill might not be debated again in this parliament. However, the bill should not be regarded as dead. The bill could be rushed through in the clearing-up procedure by which bills can pass through several readings in a matter of minutes, prior to an election. It is therefore vital that SPUC supporters continue to lobby. At this point, we would ask you to write to (1) The party leaders - especially Gordon Brown and David Cameron and (2) key peers (see below).
Please urge the government members not to attempt to force the bill through without proper consideration.
Please urge the opposition to maintain their strong resistance to the bill. Thankfully, the Conservative opposition has tabled motions regarding the bill which, while not directly relevant to pro-life issues, will nonetheless help to delay and therefore obstruct the bill's progress.
Even if the bill goes no further in this Parliament, soon after the general election legislation on education will be introduced into the new parliament, regardless of which party heads the government. If the Labour party are re-elected, either with a majority or as the single largest party in a hung parliament, then the bill, or the sex education part of the bill, will probably be resurrected. Alternatively, the Conservative opposition have pledged, if elected, to introduce their own education bill within weeks of the election. There will be intense pressure by anti-life groups and bureaucrats to continue with the government's anti-life sex education plans. These include the draft sex education guidance from the department of children, schools and families (see SPUC's briefing )
Therefore, please write to:
- Government peers: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Leader of the House), Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Deputy Leader of the House), Lord Bassam of Brighton (Chief Whip), Lord Davies of Oldham (Deputy Chief Whip), Lord Brett, Baroness Crawley, Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, Baroness Thornton, Lord Tunnicliffe, Lord Young of Norwood Green.
- Opposition peers: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Chief Whip), Baroness Seccombe (Deputy Chief Whip), Lord Luke, Viscount Bridgeman, Lord Astor of Hever, The Duke of Montrose, Baroness Morris of Bolton, Lord De Mauley, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, Baroness Verma, Earl Cathcart, Earl Attlee, Lord Bates, Lord Marland, Baroness Warsi, Earl Howe, Lord McColl of Dulwich.
- Crossbench peers: Baroness Cox, Lord Alton
You can find email addresses for Lords via http://www.spuc.org.uk/lobbying/email/email (Please SPUC know if you experience any problems using this list).
- Rt Hon Gordon Brown, the prime minister, at 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA
- Rt Hon David Cameron, the Conservative opposition leader, at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA. You can also email him at david.cameron@conservatives.com
Please forward any replies you receive to SPUC by:
- email to political@spuc.org.uk
- post to Paul Tully at SPUC HQ.
More information can be found in:
- SPUC's briefing on the CSF bill
- SPUC's leaflet "Government sex education: priming children for teenage sex and abortion?"
- SPUC's briefing on the government's draft SRE guidance
- SPUC's critique "Sexual health in schools"
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