Editing Ann Widdecombe (section)

==Political views==
===Social issues===
As an MP, Widdecombe expressed socially conservative views, including opposition to abortion; it was understood during her time in frontline politics that she would not become [[Secretary of State for Health|Health Secretary]] as long as this involved responsibility for abortions. Although a committed Christian, she characterised the issue as one of life and death on which her view had been the same when she was agnostic<ref name="BBC-1999">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/280692.stm|title=Ann Widdecombe answers your questions|date=16 February 1999|work=BBC News|access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> and was a member of the [[Society for the Protection of Unborn Children]]<!-- source says "society for the protection of the unborn child", but most likely refers to SPUC --> while studying at Oxford.<ref name="Roth">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/mar/20/profiles.parliament16|title=Ann Widdecombe|last1=Roth|first1=Andrew|date=20 March 2001|work=The Guardian|access-date=31 August 2018}}</ref> During Parliament, Widdecombe was a member of the Pro-Life All Party Parliamentary Group, which met with SPUC over concerns the organisation's more strident approach to abortion policy could alienate Protestant and atheist supporters.<ref>{{cite news |title=BBC News {{!}} UK Politics {{!}} MPs enter pro-life group row |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/398033.stm |work=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
She converted from the [[Church of England]] (CoE) to the Roman Catholic Church following the CoE decision  [[Ordination of women in the Anglican Communion|to ordain women as priests]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/112152.stm|title=Widdecombe rejects abortion role|date=13 June 1998|work=BBC News|access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref>

She is an opponent of [[Euthanasia in the United Kingdom|assisted dying]] in any form, saying that any such legislation would fail to "protect the mentally ill, disabled and the frail elderly". She further commented: "You cannot get to my age without having seen loved ones suffer [...] or having seen dear friends die in pain. And, yes, I too have thought 'We wouldn't do this to an animal'. But that emotional indignation has also to be extended to those whom any euthanasia law would threaten."<ref>{{cite news|date=30 January 2024|title=Widdecombe: 'Rantzen's campaign for assisted suicide must not prevail'|newspaper=The Christian Institute|url=https://www.christian.org.uk/news/widdecombe-rantzens-campaign-for-assisted-suicide-must-not-prevail/|access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref>

==== LGBT rights ====
Although not an MP at the time, Widdecombe did voice support for the [[Sexual Offences Act 1967|partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967]] in England and Wales.<ref name="BBC-1999" /> After that, Widdecombe consistently opposed further reforms while in Parliament. Out of the 17 parliamentary votes between 1998 and 2008 considered by the [[Public Whip]] website to concern equal rights for homosexuals, Widdecombe took the opposing position in 15 cases, not being present at the other two votes.<ref>[http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1701&dmp=826 "Ann Widdecombe compared to 'Homosexuality&nbsp;– Equal rights'"], [[Public Whip]]. Retrieved on 24 June 2009.</ref> In 1999, Widdecombe stated that "I do not think that [homosexuality] can be promoted as an equally valid lifestyle to [heterosexual] marriage, but I would say the same about irregular heterosexual arrangements."<ref name="BBC-1999" />

She has consistently argued against an equal [[age of consent]] for same-sex relationships, voting against a [[Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994|1994 act]] (which would have [[Age-of-consent reform in the United Kingdom|reduced the age of consent]] for some male-male sexual activity from 21 to 18), and in 1998 (arguing against a further reduction from 18 to 16, which later occurred [[Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000|in 2000]]).<ref name="Roth2">{{cite journal|last1=Roth|first1=Andrew|title=Ann (Noreen) WIDDECOMBE|url=http://internetserver.bishopsgate.org.uk/files/Parliamentary%20Profiles%20Archive/S-Z/WIDDECOMBE,%20Anne/WIDDECOMBE,%20Anne.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://internetserver.bishopsgate.org.uk/files/Parliamentary%20Profiles%20Archive/S-Z/WIDDECOMBE,%20Anne/WIDDECOMBE,%20Anne.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Parliamentary Profile Services Ltd|page=4|access-date=7 September 2018|author-link1=Andrew Roth}}</ref> On the latter act, she wrote in ''[[The Mail on Sunday]]'' that "one of the sundry horrors for which this Government is likely to be remembered will be that it gave its [[wikt:imprimatur|imprimatur]] to sodomy at 16",<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abrams |first1=Fran |title=Tory hits out at gays and lone parents |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/tory-hits-out-at-gays-and-lone-parents-1163616.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/tory-hits-out-at-gays-and-lone-parents-1163616.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=The Independent |date=8 June 1998}}{{cbignore}}</ref> She later said in 2000: "I do not believe that issues of equality should override the imperatives of protecting the young."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/feb/11/uk.politicalnews1|title=Commons approves bill to lower gay age of consent|date=11 February 2000|work=The Guardian|access-date=2 June 2015|location=London}}</ref> In 2003, Widdecombe opposed the repeal of [[Section 28]] of the [[Local Government Act 1988]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Watt |first1=Nicholas |title=Tory split in vote to scrap section 28 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/11/conservatives.uk |work=The Guardian |date=11 March 2003}}</ref> In 2012, Widdecombe voiced support in the ''[[Daily Express]]'' for the practise of [[conversion therapy]], which claims to change the orientation of homosexuals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/02/anne-widdecome-defends-gay-conversion-therapy_n_1249697.html|title=Ann Widdecombe Defends Gay Conversion Therapy|last1=Simons|first1=Ned|date=2 February 2012|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=2 January 2018}}</ref>

Widdecombe has also expressed her opposition to [[Same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom|same-sex marriage]], introduced by David Cameron's government in 2014, arguing that "the state must have a preferred model" which is "a union that is generally open to procreation".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jun/06/ann-widdecombe-david-cameron-listen-people|title=Ann Widdecombe: 'I wish David Cameron would listen to people'|last=Moss|first=Stephen|date=6 June 2013|work=The Guardian|access-date=8 February 2014|location=London}}</ref> She also opposes [[gender self-identification]] for [[transgender]] people.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Duffy |first1=Nick |title=Ann Widdecombe lashes out at transgender 'lunacy' |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/06/06/ann-widdecombe-lashes-out-at-transgender-lunacy-in-express-column/ |access-date=12 May 2022 |work=[[PinkNews]] |date=6 June 2018}}</ref> In 2020, she expressed her opposition to same-sex dancing on ''[[Strictly Come Dancing]]'', saying: "I don't think it is what viewers of ''Strictly'', especially families, are looking for. But that's up to the audience and the programme."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Milton |first1=Josh |title=Ann Widdecombe says 'families' don't want to watch a same-sex couple dance on Strictly Come Dancing and we are so, so tired |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/10/18/ann-widdecombe-strictly-come-dancing-nicola-adams-katya-jones-sunday-times/ |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=PinkNews |date=18 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Tucker |first1=Grant |title=Strictly Come Dancing breaks step with first same‑sex pair |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/sex-relationships/article/strictly-come-dancing-breaks-step-with-first-same-sex-pair-wn6nzb78t |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=The Times |date=18 October 2020}}</ref>

===Criminal justice===
In her speech at the 2000 Conservative conference, she called for a [[zero tolerance]] policy of prosecution, with the punishment of £100 fines for users of [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]]. This was well received by rank-and-file Conservative delegates.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/oct/06/drugsandalcohol.conservatives2000|title=Widdecombe fights back firm|last=Watt|first=Nicholas|date=6 October 2000|work=The Guardian|access-date=22 August 2009|location=London}}</ref>

Over the years, Widdecombe has expressed her support for a reintroduction of the death penalty, which was abolished in the UK in 1965. She notably spoke of her support for its reintroduction for the worst cases of murder in the aftermath of the [[Soham murders|murder of two 10-year-old girls from Soham]], Cambridgeshire, in August 2002, arguing that in the five years up to 1970 when the death penalty was suspended, the national murder rate had more than doubled.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2204738.stm|title=Death penalty call renewed|date=21 August 2002|work=BBC News}}</ref>
===Environmental and science issues===
She is a committed animal lover and one of the several Conservative MPs to have consistently voted for the ban on [[fox hunting|the hunting of foxes]].<ref>[http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1701&dmp=1050 "Ann Widdecombe compared to 'Fox hunting&nbsp;– Ban'"], [[Public Whip]]. Retrieved on 21 March 2009.</ref> Widdecombe was among more than 20 high-profile people who signed a letter to Members of Parliament in 2015 to oppose David Cameron's plan to amend the [[Hunting Act 2004]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/news/1324609-snp-to-vote-against-tories-on-fox-hunting-ban-in-england-and-wales/|title=SNP to vote against Tories on fox hunting ban in England and Wales|date=13 July 2015|work=STV|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715203740/http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/news/1324609-snp-to-vote-against-tories-on-fox-hunting-ban-in-england-and-wales/|archive-date=15 July 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=11 June 2021}}</ref>

In 2007, she wrote that she did not want to belittle the issue of [[climate change]], but was sceptical of the claims that specific actions would prevent catastrophe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/2489/Switching-lightbulbs-won-t-save-the-world|title=Switching Lightbulbs won't change the world|date=21 March 2007|publisher=Express.co.uk|access-date=26 August 2011}}</ref> In 2008, she wrote that her doubts had been "crystalised" by [[Nigel Lawson]]'s book ''[[An Appeal to Reason]]'';<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/48856|title=Yes, I am a heretic on global warming|date=18 June 2008|publisher=Express.co.uk|access-date=26 August 2011}}</ref> in 2014, she likened Lawson's difficulty in getting the book published to the [[Nazi book burnings|book-burnings in Nazi Germany]].<ref name="Nat12Nov">{{cite news |title=These are the climate change deniers in the Brexit Party |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/18031022.climate-change-deniers-brexit-party/|work=The National |date=12 November 2019|access-date=22 September 2021}}</ref> Later in 2008, Widdecombe claimed that the "science of climate change is robustly disputed",<ref name="Nat12Nov"/> then, in 2009, that "There is no climate change, hasn't anybody looked out of their window recently?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/79580/Now-the-EU-wants-to-ban-your-plasma-television|title=Article including refutation of any global warming|date=12 January 2009|publisher=Express.co.uk|access-date=26 August 2011}}</ref> She was one of the five MPs who voted against the [[Climate Change Act 2008]].<ref name="Nat12Nov"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2008-10-28&number=298|title=Climate Change Bill&nbsp;— Third Reading (and other amendments)|date=28 October 2008|publisher=The Public Whip|access-date=31 October 2014}}</ref>

The previous year, she voted to support a parliamentary motion in favour of [[homeopathy]], disagreeing with the Science and Technology Committee's Report on the subject.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2009-10/908|title=UK Parliament Early day motion 908|date=23 February 2010|publisher=Parliament UK|access-date=10 August 2015}}</ref>