Equal Marriage Consultation

Simon Hughes Excerpts

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

The answer is absolutely yes, if that is the individual’s belief. That is particularly important for faith schools, but as we would expect from all our teachers, we would want to ensure that such a belief was expressed in a balanced way.

[Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)]

I am a member of a party that supports equal marriage, but the Minister none the less must take into account that this was in no election manifesto, that it was not in the coalition agreement and that many members of my constituency, my church and my party feel that much more work must be done to see whether it is possible to redefine civil marriage separately from the traditional definitions of religious marriage. She therefore needs to proceed very carefully and cautiously, engage with the faith leaders to seek their agreement before proceeding, and proceed with draft legislation before moving speedily to get something on the statute book.

[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.