Where have you been?

Sorry, been inactive since October now!

All the usual excuses apply about being very busy, however, they are true: honest!

Well, since October, Peter has been helping out with the teaching on the RCIA course at the parish in Weybridge, and we are also expecting a little boy in mid-July! Annalisa is well, and so is Elizabeth: I must upload some recent pics of us soon. I need to put them on the computer first I suppose :-)

Last week I wrote the following letter to Gordon Brown about the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill that is coming to the house of commons soon. Please feel happy to copy and paste/edit and send yourself if you can. its about not letting Labour MPs have a free vote. You'll notice it mentions nothing from a religious perspective, as I believe he (like Tony Blair) believes faith is fine for yourself, but not in public. Thus, I have just used basic secular logical arguments that even he (hopefully) cannot deny!

Dear Mr. Gordon Brown
I am concerned that you will not be allowing a free vote on the forthcoming Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

The main reason for this is that by only allowing labour MPs to abstain from voting, you are asking them to go against their consciences, on what, to some of them, and to many in society at large, is a very grave moral matter.

To force others to do nothing, when they believe such an Act will be disastrous for humanity, is plainly unfair. Let me use an example argument to make my point: if my employer had set up a tax evasion scheme which netted the company £100 million every year, and I found out, I believe it would be my duty to do something about it., and not just think to myself: my conscience is clear, I haven’t helped the company steal money.

I know this example seems a little extreme, but this "extremeness" is how many people feel about this proposed bill. So, although to you it may seem like a conscience no-brainer, it is not to many others (both within government, and in society at large). This is not because of some anti-science, extreme form of religion. Many (including a large body of scientists) believe that allowing animal genes into the human gene pool could possibly be disasterous for humanity, and once it has been done, it cannot be reversed. Still more, many also believe that human life is being further devalued, as this bill will allow the destruction of what are essentially (99% we are told) human lives on a large scale (at least thousands of lives).

It was said about the Holocaust, that it happened because "all evil needs to triumph, is for good people to do nothing". This is what you are imposing by your whip.

Furthermore, I would like you to consider the following two points:

1. All such bills previously (as far as I am aware) regarding the status of humanbeings, have been allowed a free vote by previous governments: are theConservatives more reasonable than Labour?

2. Not allowing a free vote on this issue is a move towards a moretotalitarian regime. Why are you suggesting on the one hand we shouldnot allow Zimbabwean sports men and women from competing in the UK ifa move towards a totalitarian regime is favourable in your opinion?

Yours truly

Peter Hamilton Bsc. (Hons) I am a physical science graduate from Durham University.