SNP group to decide on abortion bid

The SNP group at Westminster will meet this week to decide whether to back a Commons bid to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland.

Labour MP Stella Creasy is leading a cross-party coalition of MPS is calling on the Government to repeal the 150-year-old piece of legislation that still applies in Northern Ireland.

Ms Creasy, appearing on the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show, said it put women in the same category as rapists. The government and its DUP allies oppose any change because reform “is an issue for Northern Ireland”.

A survey of MPS by polling agency Comres contacted eight SNP parliamentarians, with half agreeing that “it would be a betrayal of devolution for Westminster to impose abortion on Northern Ireland”, while two backed a change.