On Wednesday 15 May, Lord Falconer will table a Bill in the House of Lords in an effort to legalise assisted suicide.  This is not surprising news, but it does mean that we have the opportunity, responsibility and duty to advocate the value of human life, speak up for the vulnerable and expose the dangers [...]

On Monday, the Irish Supreme Court delivered another defeat for those seeking to legalise assisted suicide.  Marie Fleming, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, had sought permission for her partner to be able to her to end her life without facing prosecution for doing so.  However, the Supreme Court ruled against her. Mrs Fleming had argued [...]

This week CARE welcomed a report scrutinising the Government’s plans to regulate remote (online) gambling. The report issued by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee gives full support for the principle of regulating gambling on a ‘point of consumption’ basis. In December last year, the Government published a draft Bill with the intention of [...]

This afternoon the Northern Ireland Assembly rejected a motion calling for the introduction of legislation to introduce same-sex marriage by 53 votes to 42. This was a greater margin of victory than was the case when this subject was debated six months ago, when the Assembly voted against the redefinition of marriage by 50 votes [...]

I am delighted to be able to report that four good resolutions were adopted this week by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on several issues of concern to CARE.  The Parliamentary Assembly, comprised of seconded members of national parliaments of the 47 Member States, has a plenary session every quarter which I attended in [...]

CARE in Northern Ireland was very pleased to see Sinn Fein overwhelmingly back a campaign to make buying sex a criminal offence at its Ard Fheis (Party Conference) on Saturday evening.  Sinn Fein members voted to support the ‘Turn Off the Red Light Campaign’ – a coalition of organisations including political parties, Trade Unions, Christian [...]

In the past five years, the number of people in the UK donating organs after death has increased by 50%, matching a target set by the Department of Health’s Organ Donation Taskforce in 2008.  The number of transplants taking place over the same period has risen by 30% (this figure is lower as some organs [...]

On Wednesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, delivered the fourth Budget of the Coalition Government. There had been indications that the Government might not use this Budget to introduce transferable allowances for married couples.  However, it is astonishing to find that the Government has in fact made things far worse for one-earner [...]

How the Budget really affects families – An analysis for CARE by independent fiscal policy consultants The Budget contained two proposals which directly affect the take-home pay of families. One was the fulfilment of the promise in the Coalition Agreement to introduce the £10,000 personal allowance. The other was the proposal to introduce a tax [...]

When asked whether the Prime Minister was bothered that his childcare proposals discriminate against one-earner families, his spokesman replied simply by saying that he wanted to build an ‘aspiration nation’. This is absolutely extraordinary. The simple fact is that one-earner families on 36% (i.e. UK Minimum Wage), 50%, and 75% of the average wage face [...]