MPs vote to decriminalise abortion for women in England and Wales

The law will still penalise anyone who assists a woman, including medical professionals, in getting an abortion outside the current legal framework.

Women who terminate their pregnancy outside the rules, for example after 24 weeks, will no longer be at risk of being investigated by police.

The landslide vote to decriminalise the procedure is the biggest change to abortion laws in England and Wales for nearly 60 years.

MPs have voted to change abortion legislation to stop women in England and Wales being prosecuted for ending their pregnancy.

Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi put forward the amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes.

As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

The current law in England and Wales states that abortion is illegal but allowed up to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy and beyond that in certain circumstances such as if the woman’s life is in danger.

Women can also take medication at home to terminate their pregnancies under 10 weeks.

Setting out her arguments in Parliament, the Gower MP flagged that nearly 99% of abortions happen before a pregnancy reaches 20 weeks, leaving just 1% of women “in desperate circumstances”.

Antoniazzi highlighted a series of cases where women had been arrested for illegal abortion offences, such as Nicola Packer, who was taken from hospital to a police cell after delivering a stillborn baby at home after taking prescribed abortion medicine when she was around 26 weeks pregnant.

She told jurors during her trial, which came after more than four years of police investigation, that she did not realise she had been pregnant for more than 10 weeks.

Antoniazzi urged MPs to support her amendment to recognise “these women need care and support, and not criminalisation”.

“Each one of these cases is a travesty, enabled by our outdated abortion law,” she said.

“Originally passed by an all-male parliament elected by men alone, this Victorian law is increasingly used against vulnerable women and girls.”

The Antoniazzi amendment won the support from 379 MPs, with 137 against.

The new clause will not change any law regarding the provision of abortion services within a healthcare setting, including but not limited to the time limit, telemedicine, the grounds for abortion, or the requirement for two doctors’ approval.

It was backed by all the main abortion providers, as well as 180 MPs from across the Commons and 50 organisations including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

Labour MP Stella Creasey had put forward a second amendment urging MPs to go further than Antoniazzi’s, proposing to ditch any abortion-related clauses of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act – which outlaws abortion – and enshrine abortion access as a human right.

Creasy asked why MPs would want to retain outdated laws “in any shape or form, rather than learning from what is best practice around the world for all of our constituents”.

Creasy’s proposed amendment was publicly backed by 108 MPs before the debate – but abortion providers, including the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said the amendment was not the right way to achieve “generational change”, and it did not go to a vote.

Conservative shadow health minister Dr Caroline Johnson put forward a third amendment, aimed at stopping pills-by-post abortions by requiring a pregnant woman to have an in-person consultation before being prescribed medication to terminate her pregnancy.

The Johnson amendment was defeated, with 379 MPs voting against and 117 voting for.

RCOG President Prof Ranee Thakar welcomed the decision to accept the Antoniazzi amendment and reject Johnson’s as “a victory for women and for their essential reproductive rights”.

She said: “This sends a powerful signal that women’s rights and autonomy matter.

“The College has been campaigning to see this achieved for many years, and the decision reflects the voices of over 50 medical, legal and public health organisations.

“It also reflects the views of the public, who overwhelmingly support the right of women to access abortion care safely, confidentially, and without fear of investigation and prosecution.”

The amendment still needs to complete its legislative journey through both the Commons and the Lords before it can become law.

Campaigners welcomed the decision, including BPAS chief executive Heidi Stewart, who has been pushing for the change since 2016.

She said: “This is a landmark moment for women’s rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed.

“There will be no more women investigated after enduring a miscarriage, no more women dragged from their hospital beds to the back of a police van, no more women separated from their children because of our archaic abortion law.”

However, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) said it was “horrified” by the vote.

The organisation’s public policy manager, Alithea Williams, said: “If this clause becomes law, a woman who aborts her baby at any point in pregnancy, even moments before birth, would not be committing a criminal offence.”

“Now, even the very limited protection afforded by the law is being stripped away,” she added.

MPs in the House of Commons have voted to decriminalise abortion overturning a Victorian-era law.

Tonight’s vote centred around an amendment to a bill that would decriminalise women having an abortion in England and Wales.

The Crime and Policing Bill amendment was approved by 379 to 137 with a majority of 242, in a “free vote” meaning MPs from all parties could vote how they wanted without consultation from whips.

The amendment, tabled by Labour MP for Gower Tonia Antoniazzi, would “disapply existing criminal law related to abortion from women acting in relation to her own pregnancy at any gestation, removing the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment.”

Under the amendment, women would be prevented from being prosecuted, but punishments for medical professionals and violent partners who end a pregnancy outside of the existing law would be kept.

Speaking about the amendment, Antoniazzi said: “Originally passed by an all-male parliament elected by men alone, this Victorian law is increasingly used against vulnerable women and girls.”

However, MPs voted against an amendment by Tory MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham Dr Caroline Johnson that would require a pregnant woman to have an in-person consultation before lawfully being prescribed medicine for the termination of a pregnancy.

Dr Johnson’s amendment was defeated by 379 votes to 170 with a majority of 209.

WATCH: Labour MP hits back at Kemi Badenoch after she brands Jess Phillips ‘worst safeguarding minister’ A Labour MP who experienced grooming as a teenager has launched a fierce defence of Jess Phillips after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded her “the worst safeguarding minister we have ever had”. Natalie Fleet expressed fury at Badenoch’s criticism, revealing that Phillips had been instrumental in helping her overcome her traumatic past and enter Parliament. Last July shortly after being elected, Fleet revealed that she became pregnant at the age of 15 after being groomed and raped by an older man.

Pregnancy charity welcomes amendment passing as ‘hard won victory’ The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said the vote by MPs to decriminalise abortion is a “landmark moment for women’s rights.” Chief executive Heidi Stewart said: “This is a landmark moment for women’s rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed. “There will be no more women investigated after enduring a miscarriage, no more women dragged from their hospital beds to the back of a police van, no more women separated from their children because of our archaic abortion law. “When we launched the campaign to decriminalise abortion in 2016, we could not have envisaged that within a decade such progress would be achieved. “In the past six years, we have seen more progressive reform of abortion law than we had seen in the previous 50. “Today’s vote is testament to the strength of support for abortion rights across the healthcare sector, civil society, parliament, and the country as a whole. “We look forward to continuing to work with MPs to deliver wider reform and an abortion framework fit for the 21st century.”

How did key MPs vote in Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment? Shadow education secretary Laura Trott voted for the amendment GETTY Cabinet members who backed Tonia Antoniazzi’s proposed new clause included Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Defence Secretary John Healey and Commons Leader Lucy Powell. All four Green Party MPs as well as Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and former shadow frontbench of Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott voted in favour of the amendment. Among the Tories who backed the amendment were Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott, and former Shadow Foreign Secretary Sir Andrew Mitchell. Meanwhile, four out of the five Reform UK MPs voted against the amendment as well as three of the pro-Gaza Independent Alliance and former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch voted against Tonia Antoniazzi’s new clause one, to decriminalise abortion for women in relation to their own pregnancies. She was joined in the “no” lobby by her shadow cabinet colleagues Sir Mel Stride, Richard Fuller, Dame Priti Patel and Chris Philp.

Senior Tory MP warns amendments are ‘not pro-woman’ Crime and Policing Bill amendments proposed by Labour MPs Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasy “are not pro-woman” but instead risk introducing “sex-selective abortion”, the Father of the House has said. Conservative MP for Gainsborough Sir Edward Leigh said Walthamstow MP Creasy’s amendment new clause 20 “would fully repeal all the existing laws that prohibit abortion in any circumstances at any gestation both in relation to a woman undergoing an abortion, and abortion providers or clinicians performing abortions.” Referring to Antoniazzi’s new clause one, he told MPs it would “not be illegal for a woman to carry out her own abortion at home solely on the basis that the foetus is female” and added: “So, these amendments are not pro-woman. They would introduce sex-selective abortion.”

Suella Braverman demands apology from Ipso after being ‘vilified and cancelled’ over rape gangs comments Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has demanded an apology from the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) over a 2023 ruling that required a correction to her comments about grooming gangs. Speaking to GB News presenter Martin Daubney, Braverman said she would be writing to Ipso requesting they retract their decision, which found her claim that UK child grooming gangs were made up of “almost all British-Pakistani men” was misleading. “I’d like an apology. I don’t want an apology for me. I want an apology for the victims,” Braverman said. READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

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She told The Guardian: “It feels like a purge. We’ve seen the Greens veer away from its original founding culture towards a much more leftwing authoritarian culture. If you say or think the wrong thing then you’re out, that’s really worrying.” A Greens spokesman told The Guardian: “We don’t comment on individual cases.”

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John Swinney says second independence referendum is ‘within reach’ Scottish First Minister John Swinney speaks at the event in Edinburgh PA Scottish First Minister John Swinney said an independent Scotland is “within reach.” Speaking at an event in Edinburgh, the SNP leader said: “Independence is the defining choice for this generation, have no doubt. “Because the UK status quo has proved itself incapable of delivering on the hopes and ambitions of the people of Scotland. “That is why, like a clear majority of Scots, I believe that our nation should have the right to choose. “Such a Scotland is within reach, I have no doubt. But if we want it, we have to work for it, we have to vote for it, we have to actively, purposefully, and I hope also joyfully, make it happen.”

Liz Truss defends accusing Jess Phillips of ‘excusing masked Islamist thugs’ Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has defended her comments where she accused safeguarding minister Jess Phillips of “excusing masked Islamist Thugs.” Truss wrote on social media: “I accused Jess Phillips of excusing masked Islamist thugs – which she did. “And of rejecting Oldham’s calls for a Government inquiry into grooming gangs – which she did. “It was not a “far-right bandwagon”. It was about holding her to account for her complete dereliction of duty.”

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Kemi Badenoch brands Jess Phillips ‘worst Safeguarding Minister ever’ as bitter grooming gangs row turns personal Kemi Badenoch branded Jess Phillips the “worst Safeguarding Minister we have ever had” in a furious personal attack following the release of the Casey Report. In a fiery interview with GB News’ Charlie Peters, Badenoch shot down Phillips’s attacks which accused the Tories of “never caring” about rape gangs. Badenoch told the People’s Channel: “Jess Phillips is the worst Safeguarding Minister we have ever had. “I spoke about this issue during the leadership contest. I stood on a stage and I made the point about this being something that I was going to campaign on long before all of the furore that we saw this year.” READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Pro-Palestine protesters threaten Labour MP and hurl can of baked beans at him during rally A Labour MP has spoken out on a string of threats and attacks launched towards him by pro-Palestine activists in his home town. Aggressive protesters in York have tried to block Luke Charters from accessing his own constituency office, and launched a physical assault on him during the city’s Pride parade… READ THE FULL STORY HERE

‘It’s not far-right, it’s common decency!’ Furious Sarah Pochin swipes aside Keir Starmer’s grooming gangs claims following Casey Report Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin has slapped down Sir Keir Starmer’s rape gang inquiry U-turn after he labeled people calling for a national probe “far-right”. “Keir Starmer says it’s ‘far-right’ to call out the abuse and rape of young white girls by predominantly Pakistani grooming gangs,” Pochin blasted. “It’s not. It’s common decency – and the duty of every politician in this country to speak up and stand up for victims.”

Kemi Badenoch: ‘NO institution should be out of scope’ ‘No institution’ should be outside the scope of the impending rape gangs inquiry, Kemi Badenoch said PA Kemi Badenoch has vowed that “no institution” should be outside the scope of the impending rape gangs inquiry after being asked if Whitehall and Westminster would also be investigated. “Nobody should be left outside. This is a full national inquiry. I don’t believe any institution should be out of scope. If there is evidence pointing to any institution, then that should be done. “What we need right now is the moral courage to do the right thing, rather than continually finding reasons to kick stuff into the long grass,” she said.

Lucia Rea: ‘Public trust is at an all-time low… survivors have been let down too many times’ Lucia Rea, a campaigner and advocate for survivors, said “public trust” had fallen to an “all-time low” – and hopes the inquiry will fix it. “I’m hoping this inquiry will give regular updates to restore the public trust – and survivors’ trust, more importantly – because we do believe that’s at an all time low. “These survivors have been let down too many times and we’ve got to see real change with this inquiry now. “We also want to see that it has the powers to refer findings of new information that’s brought forward so the inquiry itself can go to the police with those matters and for it to liaise with the judicial system. “We want cases dealt with in a timely manner. Only last week, Kogs, a local charity in Manchester, took a survivor to the police. “It took her years to get to the point that she wanted to go to the police, and she’d come forward to say she probably won’t get a court hearing until 2028. “They live these experiences… they’re living and breathing it every day. It becomes their life.” READ LUCIA REA’S STORY HERE

Teresa Smith: ‘Families are left with nothing… We’re here to pick up the pieces’ Teresa Smith, the mother of a boy who was abused by grooming gangs, told the conference: “I’d like more openness and transparency, I’d like more help for the survivors, because there’s nothing there, and more help for the families of survivors.” Smith, whose son has since died, continued: “We’re just left with nothing. We’re here to pick up the pieces. “We’re left with no support and a lot of people don’t even think that parents should be involved. But, in my case, my son isn’t here to represent himself. What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t stay here and carry on the fight for him?”

Fiona Goddard: ‘Put aside the politics – the Government MUST rebuild trust with victims’ Grooming gang survivor Fiona Goddard said: “I think all the political stuff needs to be put aside now, this needs to be focused on survivors. “The Government needs to do a lot of work to rebuild trust, fund services and for the victims to be able to trust and come forward and be able to open up and engage in the inquiry. “Without the engagement then we’re just not going to get anywhere, so that is now the responsibility of the Government to be putting active stuff in place now to fix bridges that are being broken through systematic failures for years and years. “I do also want to talk about the fact that while this inquiry’s ongoing, it’s important to acknowledge that work cannot stop on tackling crime in the here and now.” READ FIONA GODDARD’S STORY HERE

Marlon West: ‘I’m angry at the social workers, the police, the ones who didn’t protect my daughter’ Marlon West, the father of Scarlett, a grooming gang victim, is speaking now. He told attendees: “One of my main concerns is around a locally-led inquiry. If that’s locally-led, are we back to the same argument that local authorities are going to be answering their own homework? “One of my major concerns throughout this – don’t get me wrong, I’m really angry with the groomers – but what I am angry with is the social workers, the police, the ones who didn’t protect [my daughter], the ones who I was screaming at asking them to support me.” “I was a single parent on my own and social services got me suspended from work for trying to keep my daughter in the house. It was so, so difficult. So one of my big things I want of this inquiry is about holding professionals accountable and that doesn’t reassure me one little bit.” READ MARLON WEST’S STORY HERE

Kemi Badenoch: ‘It’s not about politics, it’s about giving survivors a platform’ Kemi Badenoch said: “What this morning is about is not the politics, but giving them [the survivors and campaigners] a platform to say what they want to see from a national inquiry. “I’ll start by saying how we much we welcome Baroness Casey’s report and recommendation for a national inquiry. This is something we’ve been very vocal on in the House of Commons. “It’s important to reiterate why we want a national inquiry,” Badenoch continued. “It’s not just because we believe this is still ongoing, it’s because so much activity has taken place: 2014, 2015, 2018, local inquiries, and investigations launched by the Home Office, independent reports, independent inquiries, a gang task force as recently as 2023 finding about 807 perpetrators and 4,000 victims just last year. “This is what made me decide that a national inquiry was critical, that no one has joined the dots, that the scale of this is much bigger than any of us envisaged even as we were looking at this. We need a national inquiry and criminal investigations – not just to look at the perpetrators, but where there was institutional failure. This is work that has not been done.”

Kemi Badenoch laying out speech as Tory leader flanked by survivors and campaigners Kemi Badenoch, flanked by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and grooming gang survivors and campaigners, is laying out the beginning of her response to the Government’s inquiry U-turn. From left to right, Badenoch is sitting with Marlon West, Fiona Goddard, Philp, Teresa Smith and Lucia Rea.

Kemi Badenoch to address grooming gangs at press conference – follow live Kemi Badenoch is “responding to Keir Starmer’s national inquiry U-turn” at a landmark press conference. We’ll bring you the top lines from her speech on this live blog as soon as we get them.

PICTURED: The debunked data Diane Abbott shared on social media

Baroness Casey addresses Home Affairs Committee – follow live on GBN 2 GB News readers can follow Baroness Casey’s address to the Home Affairs Committee on GBN 2 LIVE HERE.

Baroness Casey slaps down Diane Abbott-style claims over grooming gang ethnicities Baroness Casey is speaking to the Home Affairs Select Committee. She has warned that saying data collection on grooming gang ethnicities is “incomplete and unreliable… and that’s putting it mildly” – and has issued a warning to those outside the committee against drawing false conclusions from the figures. “Let’s just keep calm here about how you interrogate data and draw from it,” she said.

Diane Abbott decries ‘grooming gangs misinformation’ – by using DEBUNKED data Diane Abbott has attacked ‘misinformation’ on grooming gangs PA Labour firebrand Diane Abbott has attacked “misinformation” on grooming gangs by using data which was shot down by the Home Secretary just yesterday. “There is a lot of nonsense and deliberate misinformation about child sexual grooming,” Abbott crowed. “Some media only ‘care’ about certain perpetrators, some politicians talk as if they are the only perpetrators. The facts are very different.” The “facts” Abbott referenced showed how 88 per cent of convicted child sex offenders are white. Her figures did not specify group-based child sex abuse – or “grooming gangs”. As Tory MP Katie Lam pointed out in May, “this is unsurprising; the majority of people in this country are white”. “Statistics include historic offences, which will have been committed when the population was more white than it is now,” Lam added. While Yvette Cooper yesterday told MPs: “I warned in January that the data collection we inherited from the previous Government on ethnicity was completely inadequate; the data was collected on only 37 per cent of suspects. “Baroness Casey’s audit confirms that ethnicity data is not recorded for two thirds of grooming gang perpetrators, and that the data is ‘not good enough to support any statements about the ethnicity of group-based child sexual exploitation offenders at the national level.'”

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WATCH IN FULL: Shadow Justice Minister Kieran Mullan speaks to GB News Breakfast

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MPs vote in favour of measures to decriminalise abortion for women

MPs have voted in favour of measures to decriminalise women terminating their own pregnancies.

MPs have voted in favour of measures to decriminalise women terminating their own pregnancies.

The Commons voted 379 to 137, majority 242, to back Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill.

The Gower MP said it will remove the threat of “investigation, arrest, prosecution or imprisonment” of any woman who acts in relation to her own pregnancy.

Ms Antoniazzi told MPs she had been moved to advocate for a change in the law having seen women investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions.

During the Bill’s report stage, Ms Antoniazzi assured her colleagues the current 24-week limit would remain, abortions would still require the approval and signatures of two doctors, and that healthcare professionals “acting outside the law and abusive partners using violence or poisoning to end a pregnancy would still be criminalised, as they are now”.

She also told MPs: “This is the right change at the right time. I implore colleagues who want to protect women and girls and abortion services to vote for new clause one. Let’s ensure that not a single desperate woman ever again is subject to traumatic, criminal investigation at the worst moments in their lives.”

On issues such as abortion, MPs usually have free votes, meaning they take their own view rather than deciding along party lines.

Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones indicated the Government is neutral on decriminalisation and that it is an issue for Parliament to decide upon.

But winding up for the Government after Tuesday’s debate, Ms Davies-Jones suggested ministers would work to ensure the law change was workable if MPs voted for it.

She told the Commons: “If it is the will of Parliament that the law should change, the Government in fulfilling its duty to ensure that the legislation is legally robust and workable will work closely with my honourable friends to ensure that their amendments accurately reflect their intentions and the will of Parliament, and are coherent with the statute book.”

Though the Government took a neutral stance on the vote, several high-profile Cabinet ministers were among the MPs who backed the amendment.

They included Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Defence Secretary John Healey, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, Environment Secretary Steve Reed, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Scotland Secretary Ian Murray, Wales Secretary Jo Stevens and Commons Leader Lucy Powell.

Kemi Badenoch and many members of the Conservative frontbench voted against it, but shadow education secretary Laura Trott voted in favour.

Abortion in England and Wales currently remains a criminal offence but is legal with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, with very limited circumstances allowing one after this time, such as when the mother’s life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability.

It is also legal to take prescribed medication at home if a woman is less than 10 weeks pregnant.

Efforts to change the law to protect women from prosecution follow repeated calls to repeal sections of the 19th century law the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, after abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019.

The changes being debated this week would not cover Scotland, where a group is currently undertaking work to review the law as it stands north of the border.

The measures to decriminalise abortion still need to complete their legislative journey through both the Commons and the Lords before they can become law.

The step was welcomed by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the charity, said: “This is a landmark moment for women’s rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed.

“There will be no more women investigated after enduring a miscarriage, no more women dragged from their hospital beds to the back of a police van, no more women separated from their children because of our archaic abortion law.”

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) said it was “horrified” by the vote.

Alithea Williams, of SPUC, said: “If this clause becomes law, a woman who aborts her baby at any point in pregnancy, even moments before birth, would not be committing a criminal offence.”

She added: “Our already liberal abortion law allows an estimated 300,000 babies a year to be killed. Now, even the very limited protection afforded by the law is being stripped away.”

Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, had proposed an amendment with a more strident means of decriminalising abortion, but repealing laws from the 19th century and the inter-war period.

She claimed on social media site X following the Commons debate that “what passed knocked out our chance to decriminalise abortion”, as her amendment fell as a result.

Ms Antoniazzi, who tabled the rival amendment, said her fellow Labour MP had faced “unforgivable abuse” outside Parliament on Tuesday from anti-abortion campaigners.

A third amendment from Tory MP Dr Caroline Johnson, requiring those having an abortion to have an in-person consultation in a bid to strengthen protections, was rejected by the Commons.

Just because a politician shows sincerity – doesn’t mean there isn’t politics at play

Here’s a rule I tend to apply across the board in Westminster: if a politician is talking, politics is probably taking place.

Add into that: if the topic of debate is especially grave or serious, be more prepared to apply the rule, not less.

Which brings us to the grooming scandal.

There’s no doubt Kemi Badenoch was politicising the issue when she ripped into the government in the Commons on Monday.

In fact, she’s admitted as much.

Asked about it during her press conference, the Tory leader said: “When I’m in the Commons, I will do politics… if every time we are pointing things out and doing our job we are accused of politicising something, it makes it a lot harder.”

So the question here is less about whether politics is at play (it almost always is and that’s not necessarily a bad thing), and more about whose interests the politics is working towards.

In other words, does Badenoch care about the grooming scandal because she cares about victims or because she cares about herself?

What does her record say?

To answer that, it’s useful to try and pinpoint exactly when the Tory leader started showing such a keen desire for a public inquiry.

Was she always harbouring it? Or did it only arrive after Elon Musk and others pushed the scandal back up the news agenda?

On this, she’s not helped by the record of the governments she served in.

Yes, the broader child abuse inquiry was announced under David Cameron, but there was no specific statutory grooming inquiry.

As late as 2022, the then Tory safeguarding minister was batting away demands for a public inquiry on the basis that locally led probes were preferable.

That is – as it happens – the same explanation the current Labour safeguarding minister Jess Phillips offered to Oldham Council in the rejection letter that sparked outrage and set us on a path to this eventual outcome.

“If we’d got this right years ago… then I doubt we’d be in this place now,” wrote Baroness Casey in her audit.

If Labour can be attacked for acting too slowly, the Tories – and by extension Badenoch – can be too.

Watch: Key takeaways from the Casey review

The politics changed

In response, her aides insist she was bound by collective responsibility while a minister and that the issue was outside her brief.

Badenoch also points to her work with patients of the now closed Tavistock Gender Identity Clinic as evidence of her track record campaigning for change in thorny policy areas.

In this context, the presence in the grooming scandal of questions around the role of gender and ethnicity mark this as an issue that you’d expect the Tory leader to not only be interested in, but to genuinely care about too.

But as previously discussed, just because a politician is somewhat sincere in what they are saying, doesn’t mean there isn’t a dollop of politics mixed in too.

And having dug out a recording of a post-PMQs briefing with Badenoch’s media adviser from January, that certainly seems to be the case here.

Asked what had changed to trigger the calls for an inquiry, the spokesperson said: “We can all go back and look at the reasons why this entered the popular discourse… this is something that is of high public salience.”

Or to put it another way, the politics changed.

The House of Commons has voted for abortion up to and during birth.

A hijacking amendment at Report Stage of the Crime and Policing Bill to decriminalise abortion was passed by 379 votes to 137, a huge majority of 242.

The Bill was introduced principally to combat violence, especially against women, and to halt the scourge of knife crime but has been amended to allow abortions for any reason whatsoever and at any point in pregnancy.

Afterwards, Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool said that the English and Welsh bishops were “deeply alarmed” by the development.

He said: “Today, Parliament passed an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that effectively decriminalises abortion in England and Wales.

“We are deeply alarmed by this decision. Our alarm arises from our compassion for both mothers and unborn babies.

“New Clause 1 lifts any criminal liability for women performing their abortions for any reason, at any time, including up to and during birth.

“This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and will result in grave harm for pregnant women.

“Women will be even more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced and forced abortions.

“This legal change will also discourage medical consultation and make the use of abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely.

“Abortion is often chosen because of the personal challenges that a woman faces, as well as the lack of proper suitable guidance and support. The enacting of New Clause 1 will result in women being more alone, vulnerable, and isolated.

“However, we cannot lose hope. The Church keeps working tirelessly to protect the dignity of every life.

We will not abandon pregnant women and their unborn children in their most vulnerable moment. I thank all those within and outside the Church who share this commitment and continue to serve parents in need and their babies.”

Archbishop Sherrington added: “Let us continue to pray and commend the lives of these women, children, their families, and all who support them to the maternal intercession of Our Lady, Mother of God.”

Abortion is illegal under the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 but permitted if criteria set out by the 1967 Abortion Act are met, such as an upper time limit of 24 weeks for nearly all abortions.

Since the lockdown of 2020 it has been possible to obtain pills to induce an abortion at home in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

At present the abortion rate is the highest on record with 253,000 carried out in England and Wales last year and 19,000 in Scotland.

Abuse of the pills to procure abortions very late in pregnancy have, however, resulted in a small number of prosecutions.

Tonia Antoniazzi, the Labour MP for Gower, introduced the amendment to decriminalise abortion so women who undertook late-term pregnancies with such pills would no longer be sent to jail.

She said: “Let’s ensure that not a single desperate woman ever again is subject to traumatic criminal investigation at the worst moment in their lives.”

Dr Caroline Johnson, the Conservative MP for Sleaford, failed to pass an amendment that would have reinstated in-person consultations and halted the “pills by post” scheme that has been criminally abused.

Crossbench Lord Alton of Liverpool, a Catholic, said: “This hasty change will have profound implications for the way that longstanding law in this country will operate.

“We know that there are potential real risks for the safety of women in particular who will be encouraged towards DIY abortions.

“I expect that colleagues in the House of Lords will wish to scrutinise its provisions very closely and to amend it as necessary to make it safe.”

Catherine Robinson of Right to Life said: “Pro-abortion MPs have hijacked a government Bill to rush through this radical and seismic change to our abortion laws after just two hours’ debate.

“We will be fighting this amendment at every stage in the Lords.

“Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, and at any point up to and during birth, likely leading to a significant increase in the number of women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home.”

“This law change would likely lead to the lives of many more women being endangered because of the risks involved with self-administered late-term abortions and also tragically lead to an increased number of viable babies’ lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb.”

“This change to the law is not backed by the general public nor by women in particular. Polling shows that 89 per cent of the general population and 91 per cent of women agree that gender-selective abortion should be explicitly banned by the law, and only one per cent of women support introducing abortion up to birth.”

“The abortion lobby is pushing to decriminalise abortion to cover up the disastrous effects of its irresponsible pills by post scheme, which endangers women by removing the requirement for in-person consultations to reliably verify a woman’s gestational age and assess any health risks or the risk of coercion before abortion pills may be prescribed.”

She added: “The solution is clear. We urgently need to reinstate in-person appointments.

“This simple safeguard would prevent women’s lives from being put at risk from self-administered late-term abortions, a danger that would be exacerbated if abortion were ‘decriminalised’ right up to birth.”

(Photo by Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images)