Cardinal Winning attacks Labour Abortion stance under fire

He has also accused Labour leader Tony Blair of having ``washed his hands'' of the row, in which Labour pro and anti-abortionists in Scotland were at loggerheads following the ban.

Mr Blair hit back last night, saying he ``profoundly disagreed'' that how MPs vote on abortion should be a matter of party policy. He added: ``It is and always has been left to the conscience of individual MPs and there are different views in all the main parties.''

Last night, the Church tried to play down the row, saying the cardinal's comments were not intended as a personal attack on Mr Blair.

However, a spokesman for the Labour leader immediately responded saying: ``A lot of people will find it odd that the initial statement was made only about Labour and only about Tony Blair. Does Cardinal Winning have exactly the same views of all Conservatives and Liberal Democrats who share Mr Blair's viewes on abortion?''

Shadow deputy Scottish Secretary John McFall, the MP for Dumbarton, was furious. He declared: ``As one of the Labour MPs who took steps to ensure that the pro-life campaign did have a stall at the Scottish Labour conference last year I find Cardinal Winning's comments astonishing and offensive.

``I'm sure that on reflection he will understand that being a cardinal does not qualify him to call people Fascists. I think he would enhance the dignity of his office if he would now apologise.''

The attack by Cardinal Winning, leader of Scotland's 750,000 Roman Catholics, was made in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday in BBC TV's Everyman programme.

It comes in the wake of the document The Common Good, published earlier this week by Catholic bishops in England and Wales, which some Tories complained showed a bias towards Labour.

In the television programme, Cardinal Winning criticises Labour's attitude on abortion by saying: ``New Labour does have a number of Christian politicians and yet it has consistently avoided condemning abortion.''

He cited the refusal of Labour in Scotland to allow the Labour for Life movement to have a stall at the party's Scottish conference in Dundee in 1994 and said: ``To me, it was almost Fascist in its approach. And I'm afraid Mr Blair sort of washed his hands of it.''

He went on: ``He says he doesn't agree with abortion, but . . . he doesn't condemn it or have a policy on it.''

The cardinal said that abortion stood out among all human rights issues.

``The one that stands out is the right to life even of the unborn child, and I find it difficult to get the left-wing politicians to see that.''

Labour last night rejected the cardinal's argument, and claimed that, far from washing his hands of the Scottish row, it was Mr Blair who settled the dispute.

The party in Scotland had decided not to have pro or anti-abortion stalls at the conference because feelings were running high on the issue, sources said.

When Cardinal Winning protested in a newspaper article, Mr Blair intervened, and the Labour pro-lifers got their stall at the following conference.

In a statement issued last night, Mr Blair said: ``The issue has never been pro or anti-abortion but whether by making abortions illegal we do not simply drive the problem on to the back streets, which is the reason why the abortion law was reformed in the first place. That is a position taken by many practising Christians.''

Cardinal Winning also says in the television programme the Conservative party had ``some very good principles'' but adds: ``The Christian faith of the Conservative party stops somewhere along the line and the right-wing ideology takes over from it.''

Attempting to defuse the row, Father Danny McLaughlin said last night: ``I have spoken to Cardinal Winning this evening and he has stressed that what he said in the interview was not intended as a personal attack on any individual and certainly not Tony Blair.''

He added that the cardinal felt the BBC had been ``disingenuous'' in its reporting of his comments and said a complaint had been lodged with the corporation. He said the cardinal was quoted out of context.

``The programme was recorded over a month ago but the BBC have chosen, presumably for their own purposes, to use some elements of the interview in the current situation. They are quoting Cardinal Winning out of context, as if he is responding in some way to the Common Good document issued by the bishops in England and Wales and that is unfair.

``They have trailed the Cardinal's interview as if the leader of Scotland's Catholic is making these comments a few days after the publication of the document. That is not true and I think the BBC have used this material in an unprofessional manner because it creates a false impression.''

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Father Danny McLaughlin said last night: ``I have spoken to Cardinal Winning this evening and he has stressed that what he said in the interview was not intended as a personal attack on any individual and certainly not Tony Blair.''

He added that the cardinal felt the BBC had been ``disingenuous'' in its reporting of his comments and said a complaint had been lodged with the corporation. He said the cardinal was quoted out of context.

``The programme was recorded over a month ago but the BBC have chosen, presumably for their own purposes, to use some elements of the interview in the current situation. They are quoting Cardinal Winning out of context, as if he is responding in some way to the Common Good document issued by the bishops in England and Wales and that is unfair.

``They have trailed the Cardinal's interview as if the leader of Scotland's Catholic is making these comments a few days after the publication of the document. That is not true and I think the BBC have used this material in an unprofessional manner because it creates a false impression.''