Peter Bottomley
Main Page: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)(11 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Maria Miller
My right hon. Friend obviously has strong views on the question. My priority is to allow same-sex couples to marry and not to overhaul marriage law, but he is right to say that we need to work with religious leaders. I will start those discussions as soon as the statement has finished.
Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)
As all marriages now are between different-sex people, it is surprising that only 61% regard marriage in such a way—it should be 100%. Like my hon. Friends who disagree with me on this, I would hope that 200 years ago I would have been part of the Clapham sect, and I think it would be a good idea to have a joint opinion poll from the Freedom to Marry campaign and the Coalition for Marriage asking a yes/no question. We could then work from the same figures, which would probably show that two thirds of the population want this legislation to go through. I support that.
Maria Miller
I would suggest that it is the role of Parliament to debate such issues. I would not want to rely on opinion polls to determine such an important issue.