Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

I very much support my noble and learned friend. The debates at Second Reading and in Committee r...

My Lords, it is good to follow the noble and learned Lord, who describes himself as an ordinary p...

My Lords, we all agree that marriage is a vital institution. The exclusive commitment of two indi...

My Lords, I listened with great interest as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern,...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord across the Chamber. I want to make a brief ...

My Lords, I find myself asking, what would actually change in the Bill if we accepted the amendme...

I read on Saturday a speech made by the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury. I wil...

My Lords, I do not support the amendments because each of them would wrongly suggest to the happy...

The noble Lord said that the two types of marriage are to have exactly the same consequences. I t...

I said that I understood the noble and learned Lord’s point that the Bill in various respects, wh...

The noble Lord will be able to say which of my amendments in any way detracts from that. I unders...

I respectfully object to the suggestion that a Bill with these purposes and valuable effects shou...

My Lords, I added my name to the amendment because I felt that it was not churlish, derogatory or...

My Lords, I fear that my response will disappoint the noble Lord, but let me try to explain why. ...

Is the logic of the noble Lord’s position that this Bill should not be called the Marriage (Same ...

My Lords, I will resist the temptation of adding a single additional amendment to the 135 on the ...

My Lords, it is always with very great care that one clashes with the noble and learned Lord, Lor...

My Lords, before the noble Lord sits down, he has made many important points but in his first poi...

I very much thank the noble Earl for that question. It would be germane if we were in France and ...

My Lords, I have had great respect for my noble and learned friend Lord Mackay of Clashfern ever ...

My Lords, I have an enormous respect for the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, as he knows, bu...

My Lords, I have not spoken before in this debate; it has taken an exercise of will power, but I ...

My Lords, I respectfully disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Deben, who made an excellent speech. ...

My Lords, I apologise to my noble and learned friend Lord Mackay of Clashfern. British Rail preve...

Before the noble Lord sits down, does he not think that that has already been achieved by the loc...

The noble Baroness raises an interesting point. The quadruple lock is important to people of reli...

Is the noble Lord aware of the research on children who are being raised by people who are gay—ei...

I remind noble Lords that we are at Report stage and that interventions, if they must happen, sho...

If I may answer briefly the noble Lord, Lord Winston—

No.

My Lords, Amendment 1 is very simple and I give it whole-hearted support. Some things have been s...

My Lords, my father told me that when this House was evacuated from this Chamber to let the House...

I am sorry. If that was said, it was a mistake. I said that, were we to pass this amendment, some...

I am delighted. I can move swiftly on to my other small, brief point, which is simply that after ...

My Lords, in the mid-1990s I was the Naval Secretary with responsibility for naval personnel and ...

My Lords, I have not made a speech in this debate, just two short interventions, and I wish to sp...

Baroness Thornton: My Lords, I ask your Lordships not to be seduced by the honeyed words and assu...

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble and learned friend for introducing his amendment and for all ...

I thank the noble Baroness for her reply to my question about research into outcomes for children...

I would disagree with the noble Earl’s suggestion that there is a difference in outcomes for chil...

My Lords, I am obliged to all those who have taken part in this debate, whether supporting or opp...

I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord. The reason I was quoting Justice Alito was simply to...

Exactly, the choice exists. We have chosen—I want to make it clear that we have chosen—to embrace...

Tabled by

Lord Mackay of Clashfern

2: Clause 1, page 1, line 6, leave out “The marria...

My Lords, I give notice that, following that vote, I will not move a large number of other amendm...

Moved by

Baroness Cumberlege

3: Clause 1, page 2, line 7, at end insert—

“(6) A...

My Lords, in Committee, I introduced an amendment that allowed civic registrars to exercise a rig...

My Lords, I am a signatory to this amendment. I realise that the time is going by and I shall mak...

My Lords, I too have put my name to this amendment. It is a narrow and transitional amendment and...

Will the noble Baroness explain why, when we brought in the race and gender discrimination and ot...

It happened with abortion but, if I may say so, it was not a marriage. We all know how special ma...

Is the distinction not this: that there is no mainstream church, be it a Christian church or a Mu...

My Lords, I—

I had just about finished, but I had not actually sat down. I just want to say that I think this ...

My Lords, I put my name to this amendment too. I do not think that the fact that it is a public o...

I apologise to the noble and learned Baroness. For my part, I cannot accept that a public officia...

Before the noble Lord sits down, I wonder if he could enlighten me; I am only an ignorant layman....

I am not aware that judges have an ability to refuse to hear and determine cases on the basis tha...

I believe that on this occasion we should remember what we have just done. We have just asked tho...

My Lords, I recognise what the noble Baroness said about how important it is for a marriage to be...

My Lords, we debated at Second Reading and in Committee the rights of this group of employees not...

That would be a reasonable argument and one that I would support for people in future, but does t...

I do not believe that it should be up to public servants to pick and choose which laws they will ...

Would the noble Lord, Lord Alli, consider looking at other countries and at what has happened in ...

I understand the point the noble Baroness, Lady Williams of Crosby, is making, but it undermines ...

My Lords, I cannot remember whether the Race Relations Act 1976 had already come into force when ...

Will my noble friend concede that there is a difference between racism, which is bigotry, and a d...

My Lords, I understand the difference. Bigots normally have deeply held beliefs. My point is not ...

The noble Lord said that that would have been possible only in cases where one is lawfully permit...

Ask the question.

I am asking the noble Lord the question. Surely the noble Lord will agree that there is an except...

My Lords, before the noble Lord answers, I remind the House that noble Lords can be interrupted w...

My Lords, of course Parliament may decide to create an exception through this amendment. I am exp...

I am sorry, but surely that cannot be true, because the case would never get to that. You would k...

My Lords, I apologise, but we are moving away from brief questions of clarification and on to deb...

My Lords, my last point is simply that this is a very old story. In the case of Ladele, which was...

My Lords, in the first debate on the Bill, I warned that we were losing the right to have and liv...

My Lords, the crucial point is that we have to take account of the fact that some individuals may...

Before the noble Lord sits down, is he saying that it is completely unreasonable to expect a regi...

I had already sat down. However, it seems to me that there is no reason to suppose that anyone wo...

My Lords, the vision of the noble Lord, Lord Alli, as a bishop of the Church of England being con...

My Lords, the question has been posed whether it was reasonable for an existing registrar to have...

My Lords, I rise to support this amendment, which is recommended in the report of the Joint Commi...

My Lords, I commend my noble friend Lady Cumberlege for moving this amendment. I was equally impr...

My Lords—

My Lords—

The noble Baroness has spoken.

No, I asked the noble Lord, Lord Lester, a question. I will speak briefly as this is a modest ame...

The noble Lord, Lord Lester, gave the impression that registrars who were not happy with same-sex...

My Lords, I reluctantly totally oppose this amendment. Those who are totally opposed to same-sex ...

I apologise to the noble Lord for interrupting but I am anxious to ask a simple question. I have ...

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Peston, is right in one respect: we are making a meal of a very sm...

My Lords, this may by no means be exact, but when the Abortion Act became law many years ago, it ...

My Lords, it is distasteful to equate what happened in the Abortion Act with what we are dealing ...

I really do think that my noble friend has to withdraw that. I have fought in favour of same-sex ...

I accept what my noble friend says about his position, but I do not think it is the position of t...

My Lords, I want to draw to the attention of the House something which has not been mentioned so ...

My Lords, I had not expected to speak in this debate, although I have listened throughout. My min...

The arguments of the noble Baronesses, Lady Cumberlege and Lady Williams and the other movers hav...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Cumberlege for moving the amendment, which has undoubtedly...

I wish purely to clarify the matter. I know that I am speaking to a distinguished lawyer but the ...

I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate for clarifying that, but he said that 30 years ago he...

The Minister said that it would have been profoundly difficult if that route had been cut off. Do...

I was making the point that there are a number of grounds on which one might say one had a religi...

Could my noble friend read on? Does it not say that,

“we leave beliefs at home”?

Does...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: It does say that. It states:

“In the Registration Service we le...

If it is true, as the Minister says, that the Panel of Registration says there are no registrars ...

Perhaps I may I remind noble Lords that this is Report. People should ask very brief factual ques...

My Lords, in response to my noble friend Lord Higgins, the national panel has made it clear that ...

Would I be right in saying that if this amendment goes through, there will be detriment to people...

I did not hear that.

Would I be right in saying that if this amendment goes through the result will be detriment suffe...

My Lords, that might be a possibility, particularly in areas where there are very few registrars,...

My Lords, I sense that the House will want me to be very quick, so I shall be. I thank all noble ...

Moved by

Lord Dear

4: After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—

“Belief ...

My Lords, in moving Amendment 4, I draw attention to the fact that this is a more tightly drawn v...

Moved by

Lord Cormack

5: After Clause 1, line 4, leave out “for life to the exclusion...

My Lords, I will not detain the House long. I do not disagree with what the noble Lord, Lord Dear...

My Lords, nothing in the Bill prevents the noble Lords, Lord Dear and Lord Cormack, believing and...

As has been mentioned on several occasions, I want to expand on why I think this is a really drea...

My Lords, the law on traditional marriage is contained in the Marriage Act 1949. Nothing in the B...

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Dear, spoke of traditional marriage being worthy of respect. Indee...

I am most grateful. I ask a very quick question, in the light of the fact that the noble Baroness...

My Lords, the issue pertaining to registrars is not to do with conscience but with the fact that ...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Dear. In introducing his amendment he reminded us...

My Lords, it would greatly reassure me if the Minister were to give an absolute assurance that so...

I can give your Lordships absolute, categorical reassurance that anybody who expresses that view ...

My Lords, on that point, could my noble friend tell me whether she had a letter from a Mr Tony Mi...

If the gentleman that my noble friend refers to has written to me, the letter has not reached me,...

My Lords, I am much reassured by what the Minister said. She mentioned the Public Order Act. Of c...

Before the noble Lord does that, can I just remind him that we are actually debating the amendmen...

My Lords, I am most grateful for the generosity and courtesy of my noble friend Lord Elton. I wil...