Rebecca Long-Bailey has said she does not agree with allowing abortion on the grounds of disability after the standard limit of 24 weeks – but stressed that this was a personal view.

The Labour leadership candidate confirmed her position after comments emerged showing she argued last year against being able to abort on the grounds of disability later than if there is no disability.

Long-Bailey was endorsed by Momentum, the leftwing grassroots group founded to support Jeremy Corbyn, as their favoured candidate for the leadership on Thursday, after more than 70% of 7,395 respondents backed her. She is thought to be a frontrunner, along with Keir Starmer, and the organisational support of Momentum is likely to boost her campaign.

Her views on abortion came to light after the Red Roar website highlighted an interview she gave to representatives of Salford’s Catholic cathedral during the 2019 election campaign.

A spokesman for Long-Bailey, a Catholic, said she “unequivocally supports a woman’s right to choose” and highlighted her vote in favour of extending the right to abortion in Northern Ireland.

But she said she believed disability and non-disability should be valued equally, leading her to disagree that abortion on the grounds of disability should be allowed at a later date than abortions for other reasons.

Asked by the Catholic cathedral whether she supported “discrimination on the grounds of disability” in abortion law, Long-Bailey said: “It is currently legal to terminate a pregnancy up to full-term on the grounds of disability while the upper limit is 24 weeks if there is no disability.

“I personally do not agree with this position and agree with the words of the Disability Rights Commission that ‘the context in which parents choose whether to have a child should be one in which disability and non-disability are valued equally’.”

Elsewhere in the interview, she defended the right of people with anti-abortion views to hold elected office and said she would play a part in ensuring the views of the Catholic church were heard in any Labour consultation on new laws and regulations on abortion.

She also wrote about how her Catholic faith motivated her and taught her that “the only society we should be striving for is one based on love”.

“In those dark times, when I wonder if I am making the right decisions, my faith is often the only thing that keeps me going. In those quiet moments before sleep every night, I always pray for help and strength in doing the right thing, making the right decisions and making my time worthy of helping those around me as I truly want to,” she said in the interview.

A spokesman for the Long-Bailey campaign said: “Rebecca unequivocally supports a woman’s right to choose and has only ever voted in favour of extending the right to abortion, such as in Northern Ireland.”

He said her responses had been selectively quoted in news reports “to propagate a misleading narrative”.

“Rebecca’s response to the Deanery of Salford clarified the existing law and current Labour policy, stating that abortion procedures should be properly regulated, and that women’s reproductive rights and the decriminalisation of abortion should be maintained.

“Rebecca’s response was also a reflection of her own personal agreement with the Disability Rights Commission – that ‘the context in which parents choose whether to have a child should be one in which disability and non-disability are valued equally’ – rather than her view on policy.

“During any proposed public consultation a wide range of views would of course be heard, and it is Rebecca’s duty as an MP to ensure her constituents are able to respond.”

Following Momentum’s endorsement, the group said it was planning to host hundreds of phone banks across the country and use peer-to-peer calling apps to support Long-Bailey’s campaign.



A Momentum spokesperson said: “Our membership has spoken and overwhelmingly backed Rebecca Long-Bailey to be the next leader of the Labour party and the next prime minister of the UK. We will now be mobilising thousands to persuade Labour members in the coming months.”