​ 'Whether it's the economy or moral issues this Conservative government is bankrupt' - Edwin Poots damns the Tories after sex ed abortion vote

Mr Poots said that both in terms of traditional fiscal conservativism and traditional moral conservatism, the party has now shown itself to be “bankrupt”.

In the latest example of the Tories over-ruling the views of local politicians, this week the party opted to enforce what will amount to a new curriculum for Northern Irish schools.

The lessons must be in accordance with a 2018 report from a UN body called The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

That report condemned Northern Ireland for its strict anti-abortion laws and demanded they be torn up, saying that they could amount to “torture” of women.

But as well as pushing for abortion law liberalisation, it also took aim at “the patriarchy”, “discriminatory gender stereotypes portraying a woman’s primary role as that of mother”, and “religious condemnation of women who undergo an abortion”.

It concluded that a new school curriculum should come into effect for NI, covering “contraceptive use, safe abortion and post-abortion care”.

In 2019 the Tory government pledged to meet these demands.

Then on Wednesday this week the government put the matter to a vote.

Some 237 Conservative MPs voted in favour, while only 20 voted against (alongside the DUP).

Mr Poots told the News Letter: “Everybody believes they’re going to lose the next election, and very few have any sympathy with them for that.

"They’ve had an opportunity for 13 years to drive a conservative agenda in terms of taxation (we have higher taxation), in terms of debt (the debt has passed GDP for the first time ever).

"So whether it’s fiscally, or whether it’s morally, this Conservative government is bankrupt.

"It has caused devastation in the UK, it has broken up the UK, and here we have it interfering in some stuff which should be focussed on at home, as opposed to in schools.

"That’s a travesty whenever they get involved in people’s home lives. It’s something government would do well to stay out of.”