Northern Ireland is approaching a key demographic turning point, with official figures predicting pensioners will exceed children within the next year. 

Key Takeaways:

• By summer of 2027, the number of pensioners in Northern Ireland are expected to outnumber children.

• Deaths are predicted to outnumber births by 2030.

• Government leaders are warning of the consequences to health care, social services, schools, and more.

Based on recent population figures for NI, released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the over-65 population will surpass the number of children in NI by mid-2027. By 2030, the number of deaths will outnumber births. NI’s overall population is expected to hit its zenith at 1.94 million in mid-2031 before retreating into long-term decline, decreasing to 1.91 million by 2049.

Observers have cautioned that the real concern for policymakers is not the overall decline itself, but the specific age groups most impacted by the decrease.

The over-65 population is expected to grow by 44.7% over the next quarter century; simultaneously, those over age 85 are expected to more than double, rising from 42,900 to 96,900. Projections also reveal both the steepest decline in NI’s child population — down 23.8% — and the most significant growth in the pension-age population, which is predicted to increase 32.2%, the highest in the United Kingdom (UK). 

After having been pronounced dead, a patient woke up after a botched euthanasia attempt, leading to his doctor being placed under supervision by the province’s physicians’ regulator due to repeated failures to adhere to protocols and procedures. 

Dr James MacLean was the subject of two complaints relating to two cases involving Canada’s euthanasia and assisted suicide regime, known as Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).

In one case, one of MacLean’s patients who wished to end their life resumed breathing after being declared dead due to the improper application of the fatal mix of substances. MacLean gave a 67-year-old cancer patient an anaesthetic, rather than the neuromuscular-blocking medication normally used in euthanasia cases, because he could not find where he had put it. 

The doctor pronounced the patient, who has not been named, dead; however, shortly after he left the patient’s home, he resumed breathing. MacLean returned to the patient’s home, gave him additional substances, including the neuromuscular-blocking medication, and shortly thereafter pronounced him dead for the second time. 

After this, and another case where one of his patients had his euthanasia assessment conducted outside a doughnut shop, MacLean’s general conduct was reviewed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and it was determined that MacLean displayed a lack of judgment in his decisions, dealt with patients in a way that “raised a risk of perceived coercion”, and kept inadequate records.

The College found that MacLean’s conduct “exposes or is likely to expose patients to harm or injury in five out of twenty [patient] charts reviewed”. They gave MacLean a caution, and agreed to several conditions relating to his practise, including a minimum six-month clinical supervision and unannounced inspections of his practice locations and patient records.

None of these concerns regarding MacLean’s conduct were escalated to the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal, where allegations of professional misconduct or incompetence are adjudicated.

There have been a total of 76,475 instances of euthanasia and assisted suicide from when they were made legal in Canada in 2016 until the end of 2024. 

Rose Docherty, the pro life grandmother persecuted for offering kindness to worried women, has won another famous victory. The Crown Office has backed down and refused to appeal the case of the Glaswegian Catholic grandmother, who was cleared in court after offering to speak with people in a “buffer zone.”

ProLife activists held a powerful commemoration at Stormont to mark the sixth anniversary of Westminster forcing abortion on Northern Ireland, and as a call for action by the Northern Ireland Assembly to protect life. At the steps of Parliament Buildings they remembered the 11,192 unborn babies killed since 2020. 32 babies of those babies had actually been born alive. The memorial display showed 32 little white coffins to represent each of those little babies.

Speaking in front of Parliament Buildings, Director of Precious Life Bernadette Smyth said "We have organised this event to draw attention to the most recent abortion statistics published by the Department of Health for Northern Ireland which revealed that 2,899 babies were killed by abortion between 2024 and 2025, bringing the overall total since abortion for forced on Northern Ireland to 11,192 babies killed. This is equivalent to the population of Northern Ireland towns like Downpatrick, Limavady or Ballymoney. An average of 43 babies were killed each week, or an average of 6 babies killed every day. The average classroom size in Northern Ireland is 25 pupils. Therefore the number of babies killed by abortion is the equivalent of 448 classrooms full of children killed. If a minute's silence was held for each individual baby, the silence would last for one full week.

"Most of these little ones were poisoned and starved to death by the RU486 abortion drug. Their little bodies were flushed down toilets and into the sewers without a thought or a prayer."

She added, "Of particular concern is information obtained through Freedom of Information requests indicating that 32 babies born alive following abortion procedures subsequently received death certificates. These cases raise critical ethical, legal, and clinical questions that require immediate explanation.

The Labour party still want to push assisted suicide into law, but they're facing an uphill battle. In a major blow to Kim Leadbeater’s plans to revive her assisted suicide Bill, cross-party MPs from the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties who previously voted for the Bill, including former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Conservative MP Sir Jeremy Hunt, have told constituents they now oppose it being forced into law using the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords. 

Assisted suicide campaigners are going to attempt to resurrect Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill in the new parliamentary session.

Their plan involves persuading an MP successful in the Private Members’ Bill ballot on 21 May 2026 to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill – and then use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords to force it into law.

Ahead of the House of Commons Private Members’ Bill ballot taking place at 9am tomorrow, four MPs who voted for the assisted suicide Bill last year in the House of Commons have written to their constituents to tell them they oppose any plans to revive the Bill via the Private Members’ Bill ballot and then use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords to force it into law. 

Given that only 12 MPs would need to change their minds should a new Bill be introduced, and any new vote would likely become a referendum on the use of the Parliament Acts as well as on the flawed Bill itself, this strongly suggests any MP picking up the Bill would be defeated.

Retired pastor Clive Johnston is to appeal his conviction for preaching the Gospel within one of Northern Ireland’s controversial abortion censorship zones.

The former President of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland was convicted of two charges under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act for holding an open-air service on the fringes of a buffer zone opposite Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital last year.

His sermon made no reference to abortion, nor were there any abortion placards or banners – a fact accepted by both sides and the judge in court. Yet, Mr Johnston was found guilty of being “reckless” as to whether his actions of preaching and standing near a large cross might ‘influence’ someone accessing the hospital’s abortion services.

This is the first UK buffer zone case in which a person has been criminalised for preaching a sermon that did not mention abortion.

Speaking after confirming his intention to appeal, Mr Johnston said: “This ruling sets a deeply troubling precedent. I was not protesting abortion. I was peacefully preaching the Gospel, reading from the Bible, and pointing people to the hope found in Jesus Christ.

“If this conviction is allowed to stand, it will signal that basic Christian witness and public expressions of faith can be criminalised simply because they take place in the wrong location.

“That should concern every person who values freedom of religion and freedom of expression, regardless of their views on abortion.”

Mr Johnston’s legal team will argue that the conviction represents a disproportionate interference with fundamental rights protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and codified into UK law under the Human Rights Act, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of peaceful assembly.

There were 18,783 abortions in Scotland in 2025, the highest on record, according to statistics released earlier today.

Released earlier today by Public Health Scotland, the figures reveal a stark increase in the number of abortions over the last ten years. 2025 saw an increase in the total number of abortions of 6,648 or 54.78% compared to 12,135 in 2016.

The abortion rate per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 increased from 11.9 in 2016 to 17.6 in 2025. 

There was also a rise in repeat abortions from 7,672 in 2024 to 7,927 in 2025. In 2025, 42.2% of abortions were repeat abortions.

Lanarkshire has had the greatest increase in abortions of any region in Scotland in the last ten years, from 1,426 in 2016 up to 2,650 in 2025, representing an 85.83% increase in abortions.

The figures also show there were 277 disability-selective abortions in 2025. This is a 61.05% increase compared to 2018, when there were 172.

The number of abortions at between 18 and 20 weeks gestation was 138 in 2025, a 50% increase from 2018, when there were 92 abortions at between 18 and 20 weeks gestation.

But bad as things are at preent, they could well get even worse. A review of abortion law in Scotland, commissioned by Humza Yousaf when he was Scottish First Minister, has recommended that Scotland scrap the 24-week abortion time limit and allow abortions on social grounds, including for sex-selective purposes, right up to birth. 

Unborn babies could legally have their lives ended by an abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy – right up to when they are about to be born.

This would leave Scotland with one of the most extreme abortion laws in the world.

While the King’s Speech made no mention that the Government would take up the failed assisted suicide Bill, the Government’s legislative agenda could be hijacked to introduce further extreme changes to our abortion law.

In his speech at the start of the latest parliamentary session, the King outlined the Government’s intention to introduce legislation to modernise the NHS and the Criminal Justice system. However, given past attempts to change the abortion law, there is a risk that, if abortion amendments are allowed, some MPs will attempt to hijack these Bills by adding extreme abortion amendments.

This is precisely what happened in the last parliament. On 17 June 2025, Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi hijacked the Crime and Policing Bill (a Government Bill not related to abortion). This changed the law so that it is no longer illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, including sex-selective purposes, and at any point up to and during birth. This will likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home. 

This drastic change to the law was passed in the Commons after just 46 minutes of backbench debate – there was no prior consultation with the public, no Committee Stage scrutiny and no evidence sessions.

Consistent with previous statements, the Government did not indicate that it would take forward a Government Bill on assisted suicide. 

During a House of Lords Committee Stage session on Friday 30 January, the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords, Lord Kennedy, made it clear that the assisted suicide Bill would absolutely not become a Government Bill if the Parliament Acts were used to attempt to force the Bill through, as some supporters of the Bill have argued it should. 

“The Government have no intention of bringing back this Private Member’s Bill”, Lord Kennedy said. “It will remain a [Private Members’ Bill], and the Government have no intention of bringing it back in the next Session”.

The lack of mention of the assisted suicide Bill follows a media campaign instigated by the sponsor of the Bill in the House of Lords, Lord Falconer, in which he seemed to threaten the use of the Parliament Acts to attempt to push through the assisted suicide Bill without the consent of the Lords.

However, polling has suggested that more MPs would oppose the assisted suicide Bill than could be relied upon to back it if the Bill were revived.

The polling, which was carried out by Whitestone Insight, found that only 41% of MPs surveyed can now definitely be relied upon to vote “Aye” again, while 45% said they would continue to vote no, suggesting that if the legislation were to be put to a vote today, it would likely be rejected by the House of Commons.

Only 12 MPs need to change from supporting the previous Bill to opposing the new Bill for the new Bill to fail, so the poll suggests that any MP considering bringing back the assisted suicide Bill after the King’s Speech would likely be destined to fail.

In the borough containing Kim Leadbeater’s Spen Valley constituency, Labour lost every single council seat it held in England's local election, only weeks after the historic collapse of the Labour MP’s assisted suicide Bill.

Across the elections on 7 May for Kirklees District Council, which entirely contains Kim Leadbeater’s Spen Valley parliamentary constituency, the Labour Party did not win a single seat. The Party went from being the largest party on the council before the election, with 23 seats, to now not having a single seat on the entire council. 

Electoral Calculus, which predicts outcomes for elections, now predicts that Kim Leadbeater MP will lose her seat at the next general election, with Reform UK having a 46% chance of winning, at the time of writing.

The loss of all Labour seats within Kirklees District Council and the losses experienced by the Labour Party following the elections that took place on 7 May 2026, come only weeks after the failure of the assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords. 

Assisted Suicide could be back on the parliamentary agenda. Four MPs who were drawn in the top seven at the House of Commons Private Members’ Bill ballot this morning voted in favour of the assisted suicide Bill in the last parliamentary session.

Private Members’ Bills are bills that can be introduced by MPs who are not Government Ministers. Early in each parliamentary session, a ballot is drawn to decide the names of 20 MPs who can then bring forward a Private Members’ Bill in that session. However, only the first seven ballot bills typically receive sufficient parliamentary time to have the chance to become law. 

The top seven MPs in this parliamentary session’s ballot are, in order, Sir Desmond Swayne; Lauren Edwards; Mike Wood; Andrew George; Dr Luke Evans; Sir John Whittingdale; and Jessica Toale.

Of these, Lauren Edwards, Andrew George, Luke Evans and Jessica Toale voted in favour of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill at its Third Reading in the House of Commons, with the remaining MPs voting against it.

Lauren Edwards, commenting after voting in favour of the Bill at Third Reading, said “I believe this Bill is one of the most important, compassionate, and empowering changes to healthcare we’ve seen in a generation”.

Andrew George, writing after the Bill fell in the House of Lords, claimed it showed that “a minority of unelected Peers can deliberately frustrate the will of the democratically elected chamber”, arguing that the entire House of Lords should be converted into “a Citizens’ Assembly, …or a museum”. 

According to Lucy McDaid, political correspondent at Sky News, George has said that the assisted suicide Bill is “definitely definitely” on his list of Private Members’ Bills to consider bringing forward. 

Assisted suicide campaigners have made it clear that they are going to attempt to resurrect Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill in the new parliamentary session.

Their plan involves persuading an MP successful in the Private Members’ Bill ballot on 21 May 2026 to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill – and then use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords to force it into law.

Taking the unprecedented route of using the Parliament Acts to bypass House of Lords’ scrutiny of a Private Members’ Bill would be politically explosive and divisive, setting a precedent that may worry many MPs. It would be the first time ever that the Parliament Acts would be used for a Private Members’ Bill.

Assisted suicide campaigners are now likely to focus their efforts on convincing those in favour of assisted suicide who placed highly in the ballot to bring forward an identical version of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill as their Private Members’ Bill of choice. 

This all comes despite the fact that public opinion has shifted substantially against such legislation. New polling from More in Common has revealed that fewer than one in three (29%) of the general public think that a new assisted suicide bill should be introduced as soon as possible in the same form as the assisted suicide Bill that has failed to become law – as would have to happen should an MP want to use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords to force the Bill into law.

In contrast, a majority of the public (53%) thought the Bill should either not return or, if it returns, should be introduced with stronger safeguards, which would mean introducing a different Bill, therefore ruling out the use of the Parliament Acts to bypass the Lords.