Go! England and Wales! Go! Go! Go! - What is in Kelvin's Head?

It is a big day for those working towards more equal marriage law in the UK today. The second reading of the Bill which would allow gay couples to wed in England and Wales.

I’ve been in touch with Ann McKechin my local MP to check she is supporting it and am delighted to report she is.

And this isn’t a simple West Lothian question either – I’m one of her constituents. If I wanted to marry someone from Englandshire I might well want to get married there.

Indeed, I might want to get married in a parish church there.

But we will come to that later.

Comments

7 responses to “Go! England and Wales! Go! Go! Go!”

Rev David Coleman

05/02/2013

Having written to our Inverclyde MP, all the more sadly, following on from David Cairns, he seems not to be able to distinguish between democracy and the bullying of the minority by the majority, which he seems to think is reflected in his mailbox.

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Bro David

05/02/2013

The news is that it passed by a huge majority. What are its next parliamentary hurdles, besides the Lords?

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kelvin

05/02/2013

It will have a third reading in the House of Commons (during which amendments can be taken). Then it needs to get through the House of Lords. And that might be tricky.

The Scottish legislation is dealt with entirely in the Scottish Parliament – no second chamber, no House of Lords. There is a greater scrutiny process before legislation gets to the chamber in Scotland.

Expected to get to the Scottish Parliament in May or June, I think.

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Seph

06/02/2013

It might be worth pointing out to those unfamiliar with the workings of the UK Parliament that the term ‘second reading’ actually refers to the first time the House considers a bill, the first reading being a formality. Major challenges usually occur during a bill’s third reading, which focusses on the finer details of the bill; the defeat of a government bill at its second reading shows an overwhelming lack of confidence in the government. In short, this is a promising development, but we are not out of the woods yet.

Conversely to your remark about the West Lothian Question, Kelvin, do you think English legislators should get a say on the Scottish marriage bill? I find it hard to imagine it failing to pass, so perhaps the question is moot.

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1. kelvin
  
  06/02/2013
  
  Westminster has had a say on marriage in Scotland by devolving it to the Scottish Parliament.
  
  Reply
  1. jaye richards-hill
    
    08/02/2013
    
    ..but there may need to be amendments to the equalities act (2010) as I understand it? this would involve Westminster agreeing to do this prior to the Scottish legislation becoming law here…
    
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Tim Moore

06/02/2013

On my side of the border, some of us hoping for marriage equality really believed it would happen in Scotland sooner. Time now to ensure same-sex marriage becomes a reality in Scotland, as well as England and Wales.

Then we can move on to Northern Ireland…

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7 responses to “Go! England and Wales! Go! Go! Go!”

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