Baroness Whitaker
Main Page: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Whitaker's debates with the Scotland Office
(2 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Stewart of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, at present in England and Wales, other groups—faith groups or secular people—cannot marry where they want: it is a matter of the venue, as opposed to the celebrant, and that, at present, restricts choice in that area. To establish where we go from here, we will, as I say, await the report of the Law Commission.
Baroness Whitaker (Lab)
My Lords, the judge in the High Court also ruled that
“the present law gives rise to … discrimination.”
For how much longer are the Government prepared to allow this apparent breach of the law without any guarantee that it will be resolved?
Lord Stewart of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, the High Court in its decision found that the Government were entitled to proceed by way of clarifying the law as it relates to all bodies, religious, secular or otherwise; albeit that there was a measure of discrimination against humanists, the Government’s course was appropriate.