Cameron speaks out on “faith” and moral issues

David Cameron answered questions about his beliefs in a Catholic Herald feature published on 9 April.

David Cameron answered questions about his beliefs in a Catholic Herald feature published on 9 April.

In his comments he said he believed:

• The time limit on abortions should be reduced from 24 to 20 or 22 weeks, but this is an issue of conscience on which MPs should have a free vote.

• The law relating to euthanasia should not be changed.  This again is a matter of conscience, but if assisted dying were legalised, “there is a danger that terminally ill people may feel pressurised into ending their lives.”  He thinks it would be “wrong to tread over the line” between “allowing nature to take its course under some incredibly painful circumstances and on the other hand allowing doctors or others (however well-intentioned) to accelerate death.”

• The old Human Fertilisation and Embryology legislation did need replacing, and overturning the new Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act is “not something we’re considering”.

• “Schools should be allowed to teach sex and relationship education in a way that’s consistent with their beliefs, and parents should be free to decide whether or not their children should take part in these lessons.”  He described himself as “a big supporter of faith schools.”  Yesterday the Conservatives forced the Government to scrap large parts of the of the Children, Schools and Families Bill, including adding sex education to the National Curriculum and removing parents’ right to withdraw children from lessons when they turn 15 (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7564034/General-Election-2010-compulsory-sex-education-scrapped.html). 

• “I want to encourage and reward commitment in all families.”  This means helping marriage and civil partnerships through the tax system and ending the married couples “penalty” in tax credits, but parliament could also extend flexible working to all parents of children under 18.

•  To deal with inner-city poverty he would like to focus on “things like poor schooling, family breakdown and people stuck year after year on welfare”.  “We will support families, back marriage and encourage commitment – because a child whose parents have split up is twice as likely to live in poverty.”

• “Over the past decade, the pace of immigration into Britain has placed huge pressure on our public services and housing. That’s why we would introduce an annual limit on the number of people from outside the EU coming to work here.”