Cardinal Keith O'Brien condemns Gordon Brown over 'monstrous' embry
Telegraph
23 Marzo 2008
One of Britain's leading Catholics has criticised Gordon Brown over his Government's "monstrous" plans for embryo research and compared them to the creation of Frankenstein's monster
Cardinal Keith O'Brien will use his Easter Sunday sermon to censure the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which will allow scientists to create part-human, part-animal embryos for use in stem cell experiments.
The Prime Minister is facing a Cabinet revolt over the issue with three ministers contemplating their positions this weekend.
Des Browne, the Defence and Scottish Secretary, Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary, and Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, are understood to be pushing to vote against parts of the Bill. They may be forced to resign if Mr Brown does not back down and allow a free vote on the issue.
Cardinal O'Brien said yesterday he hoped that Catholic ministers would be prepared to resign rather than accept orders to back the legislation but, ultimately, it was a matter of individual conscience.
Catholic leaders in England and Wales have already denounced the plans but the attack by Cardinal O'Brien, the Church's leader in Scotland, is the most vitriolic to date. Supporters of the legislation believe hybrid embryos could lead to cures for diseases including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's.
In tomorrow's sermon, Cardinal O'Brien will say: "This Bill represents a monstrous attack on human rights, human dignity and human life. I can say that the Government has no mandate for these changes: they were not in any election manifesto, nor do they enjoy widespread public support."
Cardinal O'Brien will berate Mr Brown for imposing a three-line whip on Labour MPs over the Bill and will also claim that it would lead to the endorsement of experiments of "Frankenstein proportion". His attack comes just days after the Archbishop of Cardiff, the Most Rev Peter Smith, condemned the proposals as "gross interference in human life". The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, has also urged Catholics to write to their MPs to demand free votes.
David Cameron has said that Tory MPs will get a free vote on all aspects of the legislation and the Liberal Democrats are expected to follow suit for its most controversial elements.
Discussions between Labour MPs opposed to the Bill and Geoff Hoon, the party's Chief Whip, are understood to have resulted in a stalemate.
Mr Hoon has offered them the option of writing to him asking him to be excused from the vote on ethical grounds, but he has made it clear that they must not vote against it.
The Department of Health said the legislation has been scrutinised by parliamentary select committees and the House of Lords and been the subject of a public consultation. A spokesman said: "This is not about 'creating monsters'. It is purely laboratory research, and is aimed at increasing knowledge about serious diseases and treatments for them."
By Simon Johnson and Jonathan Petre
Source > Telegraph
