Labour MP: ‘Mum showed extraordinary courage not to have me aborted’

Shadow Health Minister Wes Streeting has praised his mum’s courage for resisting family pressure to abort him.

The 40-year-old MP for Ilford North made the revelation in his recently published memoir.

However, since his election to Parliament in 2015, Streeting has consistently voted in favour of liberalising abortion laws in the UK.

‘Defiance’

Speaking to The Times, Streeting explained: “My mum had an appointment booked for an abortion.

“She decided she wasn’t going to go through with it, but she knew she was going to come under enormous pressure from her mum and my dad, who wasn’t ready to be a father at the age of 17.

“There was a family consensus that an abortion was the right thing to do, so almost as an insurance against going through with it she cooked herself a full English breakfast.

“When my nan came in and said, ‘It’s time to go,’ she said, ‘I can’t, they told me I shouldn’t have anything for breakfast on the day of the procedure.’ It was an extraordinary act of courage and defiance.”

It’s a sad irony that he is such a staunch defender of abortion

‘Sad irony’

Reflecting on his journey from his council estate primary school in Tower Hamlets, to Westminster City school and a place at Cambridge, he said:  “I think my mum, having decided to keep me, was absolutely determined to prove herself as a mother.”

During his relatively short parliamentary career, Streeting has already served in four positions on the Labour front bench, including Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty.

The Christian Institute’s Director, Colin Hart, said: “Whatever your political leaning, Streeting is surely one of the most capable and talented politicians in the Labour Party. He’s a gifted communicator and has risen through the ranks quickly. He is even tipped to be a future Labour leader.

“Yet if his mother had gone for her abortion, he would not be with us. It’s a sad irony then that he is such a staunch defender of abortion.”