AN ex-MP is to join current MPs in a sponsored walk to raise cash for a controversial pro-life lobbying group he chairs.
Conservative Ken Hargreaves, a former Hyndburn MP and chairman of Right to Life, will join five politicians, including Ann Widdecombe, in a eight-mile trek across Morecambe Bay to raise funds for the group, which campaigns against euthanasia, abortion and cloning.
The organisation has attracted criticism from pro-choice campaigners and the voluntary euthanasia society for its staunch opposition to The Patient (Assisted Dying) Bill, due to be presented in the House of Lords for a second reading on June 6.
A survey commissioned by Right to Life showed 75 per cent of doctors would refuse to perform assisted suicides, a result which pro-choice campaigners say is irrelevant, as the bill states no doctor would be forced to participate.
Voluntary Euthanasia Society chief executive Deborah Annetts said: "Campaigners are out of touch. The latest poll showed 81 per cent of the British public support the bill."
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