Large Number Of Errors In Commons Vote On NI Abortion

The Speaker of the House of Commons has called for an urgent investigation into a vote held in parliament on Northern Ireland's abortion and same-sex marriage rights.

John Bercow said there had been a "large number of errors," but the result still stood.

He told MPs on Thursday, 25 October, that there had been a mistake in the way members' decisions were recorded following the vote on Wednesday, 24 October.

The Bill passed with an amendment from Labour MP Stella Creasy that requires the Secretary of State, Karen Bradley, to provide guidance on the human rights compatibility of Northern Ireland's laws on abortion and ban on same-sex marriage.

MPs voted 207 to 117 to accept the changes, despite arguments against it from the DUP, whose nine voting MPs opposed the amended bill.

"I'm sorry to report that there are a large number of errors in this list," Mr Bercow told the House of Commons.

"These appear to have been caused by a technological failure.

"Urgent steps are now being taken to correct the record and the Clark Assistant is investigating exactly what went wrong with a view to take necessary corrective action."

The result remains, however the way some MPs voted may have been incorrectly recorded in the Hansard report of parliamentary proceedings. A revised and corrected list of the voting is due to be published.

The Northern Ireland Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions Bill aims to give more power to Northern Ireland civil servants to make decisions in the absence of a functioning Stormont assembly.



(JG)