I apologise, Mr Deputy Speaker, for having to leave the Chamber earlier.
On Second Reading, I was in a minority among Labour Members in voting against the Bill. I voted against it not because I did not want to see equality, but because, as some saw it, people’s faith and beliefs were being challenged. Again, today, I acknowledge the need to respect people’s faiths and beliefs, but I feel that that should extend to humanist beliefs and that humanists should have the option of a humanist marriage ceremony.
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Given the volume of correspondence I received in the lead-up to Second Reading, I would say that this Bill is the most controversial I have been involved in since entering the House in 2011. When it was presented on Second Reading, I was made very aware of my constituents’ concerns, and like many Members I was inundated by e-mails, letters and phone calls in which people overwhelmingly expressed their fear that their beliefs, faith and religious freedoms were being challenged. I have not received that level of correspondence over today’s new clauses.
As a result of the number of inquiries I received, I took time to scrutinise the Bill, and I found cause for concern. The religious communities felt vulnerable and at risk of having their faith and their freedom to practise their faith threatened by the Bill. The Churches felt that they would be legally bound to carry out same-sex ceremonies, even to the point of being threatened with legal proceedings if they refused. It would not have been fair to place the Churches in such a position, so I concluded on Second Reading that I could not support the Bill. I voted against it not because I was not committed to equality—I most certainly am—but because I did not want the religious communities put in that position. It was not an easy decision to take.
I kept my constituents up to speed as the Bill progressed through Committee, and to date the response to the changes made and the reassurances given to the Churches in Scotland has been nothing but positive. The opt-in gives religious communities the assurance that their faiths will be respected and that they will have the right not to conduct same-sex marriages if it is against the teachings of their Church.
I have been contacted by some via the wonder that is Twitter. One person wrote that we should vote for the Bill because fairness trumped faith. I have to tell that person and the House that nothing trumps faith, but I will support the Bill, as amended, through Parliament because respect, understanding and equality must be delivered for all, including humanists seeking the right to a humanist marriage ceremony.
I have seen the Bill divide generations over their understanding and acceptance of this issue. I concede that it will not be the case with every family, but I have two sons who cannot understand why this equality has not been introduced before. They ask, “Why? Why has Parliament not addressed this before?” My parents, who have been married for 55 years, also ask, “Why? Why is this changing now?”, and they are worried. They wonder if it will change or adversely reflect on their own long marriage. I tell them that it will not and that in the months and years ahead people will be asking why we did not introduce this equality before. In time, they will be reassured that the Bill will strengthen, not weaken, marriage.