Embryology Bill

Given its controversial nature, I'm surprised there hasn't been more media coverage of the Human Tissues and Embryology Bill currently going through Parliament.

The Bill will deliver a major overhaul of the law on a range of measures related to embryo research - in essence what the government is trying to do is tie together years of different and sometimes disparate acts of law into one comprehensive piece of legislation. The Bill covers issues as diverse as Embryonic Stem Cell research, cloning, artificial insemination and much more. It is highly likely that during the debate MPs will revisit the issue of abortion limits.

On their own, several of these issues raise complex ethical questions - and you will perhaps forgive me if I don't claim to have reached a settled conclusion on all of them. But together, they represent a moral and ethical dilemma.

Usually on such matters, the political parties recognise that these are matters of conscience for MPs and allow a "free vote" - that is, they don't whip their MPs to vote a particular way. That has still enabled legislation to pass, as a cross-party majority has usually existed to get the bills through. But it allows those with genuine moral, religious and ethical problems to oppose bills that conflict with their own sincere convictions.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are giving their MPs a free vote on this Bill. My party, Labour, is not. That's wrong and I hope the Government will see sense and allow MPs to reach their own conclusions on the ethics of these proposals. As MP for Putney, I would find it extremely difficult to support the Bill.