Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

Debate between Christopher Chope and Brooks Newmark

Tuesday 5th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)]

I shall be voting against this Bill because I am a Conservative, and also because an overwhelming number of my constituents are against it. I have had, I think, three letters in support of the Bill. That reflects opinion in the Christchurch constituency.

The proponents of this Bill are under one fundamental misconception—that because a man and a woman are equal before the law, therefore they are the same. They are not the same; men and women are different. Same-sex couples may be equal before the law, but we cannot force them into marriage, which at the moment is set up on the basis that it is between a man and a woman. Sir Mark Potter, president of the family division, spoke of the common-law definition of marriage:

“The voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others.”

We ignore that fact at our peril.

[Mr Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con)]

My hon. Friend raises a good point about the constituency postbag that many of us have received. I am curious to know, however, whether he has looked at the age profile of the people who write to him. Surely, as it is for most of us, those who are older—60 plus—tend to be the most outraged by this Bill. I have five children, and if any of them thought I was going to oppose this Bill, they would think I was bonkers. The vast majority of people under 40 support this Bill.