Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

rose—

Order. May I point out to the House that there is much interest, but it is only right that there ...

Throughout this debate I have made a practice with my constituents of arguing that whatever our v...

rose—

Unlike the hon. Gentleman, I will give way.

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way, because I meant no slur on him. He and ...

I am glad the hon. Gentleman has sought to give that clarification, but in fact it has not in the...

I will make a short contribution, in the same vein, I hope, as the last three. I pay tribute to t...

I might be the only Member in the House who was a primary school teacher when section 28 was in f...

I absolutely share the hon. Lady’s view and am grateful to her for that prompt. I was here when c...

Like the right hon. Gentleman, I voted against Second Reading and the programme motion because we...

That is why I ask the Minister to look at this issue. We do not yet necessarily have the right ba...

First, let me say unequivocally that I am opposed to same-sex marriage, as most Members will know...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

If the hon. Gentleman is very quick.

We dealt with this in some detail in the Bill Committee, and I recognise that it is one of the pr...

The hon. Gentleman and I clearly have a difference of opinion; he will not be surprised about tha...

Does my hon. Friend believe that if a teacher were taken to court and said that the Secretary of ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; we need this protection, and it must be enshrined in legislat...

Perhaps we should go further. For example, is there protection of freedom of speech for preachers...

My hon. Friend is right: we desperately need that protection.

Other questions are likely to...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am sorry but I cannot.

That can be done via new clause 4, which would ensure that freedom...

Much of this debate has revisited the issues that we discussed on Second Reading, but we need to ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, because others want to get in.

My right hon. Friend the Minister, who supports the Bill...

I have about five minutes to make a 10-minute speech, so I hope that hon. Members will forgive me...

rose—

Order. May I just explain that the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) on the Opposition Front...

I rise in support of new clause 5, which says that

“no person should suffer any detriment i...

I want to start by paying tribute to the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr Burrowes). Althou...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not give way to the hon. Lady if she does not mind. I would normally be very generous, but...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not, I am afraid, because we are very short of time.

I gently suggest to hon. Member...

The Government have listened extremely carefully on Second Reading, in Committee and today to the...

I believe that Adrian Smith had to find £30,000—or it was found for him. What happens to poor peo...

That example shows the danger of trying to make law on the basis of one individual case, particul...

I appreciate there is limited time for a debate on serious issues, and what I believe is a consen...

Will the Serjeant at Arms investigate the delay in the No Lobby and see if he can unblock it?

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment (a) to new clause 16, l...

The Bill has a single important and straightforward purpose: to extend marriage to same-sex coupl...

Will the Minister explain why she thinks that the proposal would cause such a delay? Many of the ...

The hon. Lady is getting to the core of the issue in her own style. If she will bear with me, I w...

I am listening carefully to the Minister, as always. She says that it is not clear what the impli...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, my h...

Of course, it would also not be right to be putting out spurious figures. The figure of £4 billio...

I really do thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, because he has made my point for me. At th...

My right hon. Friend is arguing that there is a cost to the state whenever people get married or ...

My hon. Friend seems to be driving at the same issue—namely, that we do not have the necessary in...

May I clarify that one issue preventing us from rushing into immediate implementation and explain...

My hon. Friend is right that there is an anomaly here, and these decisions were taken at the time...

Do not all these exchanges simply highlight the fact that extending civil partnerships to heteros...

I am pleased that my hon. Friend has taken the opportunity to put that on the record so that my h...

When the civil partnership issue came up on Second Reading and in previous stages, the Government...

That shows why we need a detailed look at the issue: we simply do not have the answer to the ques...

rose—

I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley), but then I must ...

We greatly appreciate how the Minister is allowing the debate to evolve. One consideration that w...

My hon. Friend raises an important issue, but it is not really the right place to discuss it in t...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

Will my hon. Friend allow me an opportunity to make a tiny bit more progress?

As I said, no...

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. I believe in principle that civil partnerships shoul...

I know my hon. Friend will have studied the new clause in some detail, so she will see that there...

Given that the issue of extending civil partnership was raised in Committee and an amendment was ...

My hon. Friend is right that we have, of course, done some preliminary work on this issue. The Co...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

I would like to make a bit of progress before my hon. Friend intervenes. If new clause 10 is not ...

Does my right hon. Friend accept that many of us—even on this side of the House—are firmly in fav...

I entirely understand my hon. Friend’s intentions. I assure him that we intend to proceed swiftly...

I do not for a moment doubt the Minister’s commitment to marriage between same-sex partners, but ...

I can certainly reassure the right hon. Gentleman that the review would be genuine and open. I wo...

As one who supported civil partnership and voted for it, I want to be certain that the Minister u...

I agree with my right hon. Friend that there are differences between the concept of marriage and ...

I support the Bill because I believe in equality, but a direct consequence of that equality is a ...

Let me gently point out to my hon. Friend that what we are trying to do is provide access to marr...

My right hon. Friend is being very gracious in giving way. Does she not accept that there is an i...

There is currently a glaring inequality, in that same-sex couples have no access to the civil mar...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

I hope that my hon. Friend will bear with me. We have only a short time for this debate, and I wa...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

—as a vehicle for the extension of civil partnerships—

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

Order. I must gently say to the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope), who has had three goes a...

Only because I want other Members to have an opportunity to speak, Mr. Speaker.

I think tha...

We were grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for accepting our manuscript amendment (a) to new clause 16 ...

Does the hon. Lady also agree that some people will still prefer to have a civil partnership now,...

I entirely agree. There are many reasons why some couples may feel that the historical or religio...

Given the hon. Lady’s principled support for the extension of civil partnerships to heterosexual ...

The hon. Lady is right about our concerns about unwarranted delay. That is why I tabled the manus...

I agree with my hon. Friend. Does she agree that there is a large, and potentially massively incr...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is important that we adhere to the principle and that we g...

There is, indeed, strong support for the principle. I welcome the review to the extent that it sp...

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady, and I hope the Secretary of State will take on board her c...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Yes.

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way; she is, typically, demonstrating courtesy. Does sh...

It is very good to hear the hon. Gentleman holding up the situation in France as an example of th...

An awful lot of rubbish has been spoken and reported in the media over the last few days. Not all...

I hope that I will not add to my hon. Friend’s confusion, but does he not accept that the amendme...

I hope that we have achieved something, in that a provision that the Government thought was not n...

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that tonight we will vote to enshrine an inequality in law w...

My hon. Friend is right. The trouble is that, given that there has been such fast movement in var...

Does the hon. Gentleman understand why there are those who are briefing the media and accusing hi...

I can understand why people are trying to cause mischief on that basis. I approach the new clause...

My hon. Friend is making a compelling case for extending civil partnerships to opposite-sex coupl...

I hear the point that my hon. Friend makes and it has been made before. I will come on to say tha...

I accept in good faith the hon. Gentleman’s remarks. He has obviously thought about the matter in...

There is a trade-off, because if the Bill goes through in its current form an inequality will be ...

Does my hon. Friend not see that the amendments proposed tonight, particularly from those on the ...

If what my hon. Friend has just said were true, I would be delighted, but I think that what the h...

The amendments deal with some extremely important principles, such as equality, but we are also d...

The right hon. Gentleman is making a thoughtful speech. Has he not presented a greater argument t...

The Secretary of State made it clear that the new review will be very different from the last rev...

Is the right hon. Gentleman really telling the House that to rectify what he calls one blatant un...

I understand the spirit behind the hon. Gentleman’s question. I understand that some will see the...

I hear what the right hon. Gentleman is saying. No doubt there are some Machiavellian Members of ...

Again, I accept the hon. Gentleman’s word. I simply ask the Secretary of State to hear what her c...

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to speak on this subject, but I have been worki...

rose—

Order. Several colleagues are seeking to catch my eye. I am keen to accommodate them. The House w...

I will be brief.

I put my name to new clauses 10 and 11 in good faith. Opening civil partne...

I could begin my remarks by saying, “I don’t want to say, ‘I told you so’”, but that would not ac...

I have a great deal of time for the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton)—who...

rose—

rose—

I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green).

I do not think that many of the people who have entered into successful and happy civil partnersh...

I accept what my hon. Friend says, but let me ask her a question. Had we been able to legislate t...

I want to put on record that I support new clause 10, because the Bill is fundamentally about equ...

Like the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas), I signed new clause 10 in good fait...

I have no objection in principle to the extension of civil partnerships to heterosexual couples—f...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I hope that my hon. Friend will forgive me if I make some progress.

As it does not appear t...

Is it not the case that in a mad rush to put same-sex marriage on the statute book, the right hon...

I have already said that I have no objection to the principle, but there is no evidence that ther...

My right hon. Friend clearly said we do not know the cost of the proposals in the amendments. Wil...

With the greatest respect to my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour—indeed, my constituent —fo...

It is a great honour and a privilege—and also a challenge—to follow the right hon. Member for Aru...

Clearly, we have had a vigorous debate today. Let me wind up before we move to a vote.

It i...

We have a dilemma here, because if my right hon. Friend goes ahead with new clause 16 on the basi...

What I can be absolutely clear about is that I am committed to undertaking an urgent review, and ...

Will my right hon. Friend provide the House with her assessment of the fundamental difference bet...

That issue has been raised at every stage of the debate—on Second Reading and in Committee. My ho...

Can the Secretary of State confirm to the House the special arrangements that she has put in plac...

The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue. These are matters that have been decided in Norther...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

Perhaps my hon. Friend would forgive me if I draw my remarks to a close, as the House has had a g...

Will my right hon. Friend ensure that the review that takes place will include the proposition pu...

I think that my hon. Friend has heard me say already that what we are very clear about and focuse...