What is in Kelvin's Head?

Predictions 2026

01/01/2026
1. A rocky road to the enthronement of the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
2. Further turmoil and scandal in the Anglican Episcopates of the United Kingdom.
3. No progress for those hoping for Equal Marriage in the Church of England.
4. More talk about the Quiet Revival which will continue not to show up in denominational statistics.
5. Success for BBC Farage TV as Reform make great gains in the May elections
6. Despite its record in government, the SNP get about 60 seats in the new Scottish Parliament.
7. Because of its record in government, the Labour party gets terrible results and there is an attempt to remove Keir Starmer as leader.
8. Despite its record both in and out of government the Democratic Party does well in the November elections in the USA.
9. Stock market has another volatile year but ends up on this year, but not by much. FTSE is 9,931 at the start of the year.
10. 2026 is the hottest year ever recorded.
2026, new year, Predicions 2026, predictions

6 responses to “Referendum? On a human rights issue?”

Calum

15/07/2012

“The Roman Catholic Cardinal is not the moral arbiter of Scottish society.”

Agreed. It’s shocking that this one person is given so much time and space in the media.

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Adam

16/07/2012

And since when was SS marriage a human right?

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1. kelvin
  
  16/07/2012
  
  Any time now, Adam
  
  Reply
Claire

16/07/2012

As a Scottish Roman Catholic it pains me deeply that this man is the image that others may hold of myself. I am pro-equal marriage. Unconditional life-long love is such a rare beauty that if ANY two people want to encapsulate that in a marriage then they should be commended and celebrated, not shunned and ridiculed.

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Eric

16/07/2012

Referenda ought to be used sparingly and then only for major constitutional realignment. Calls for a referendum further endanger representative democracy in seeking to by-pass elected representatives (note: not mandated delegates). Our representatives need our support despite and because of their frailties. We depend on their good judgement more than we realise. I’m not setting them up as paragons of wisdom and virtue but arguing that a referendum on a social issue (let alone a civil or human rights issue) places minorities in the hands of majorities that may have dangerous biases.
A referendum on the death penalty, or on immigration, or on categories of welfare benefit could produce cruel results.
Representative democracy is not perfect but better than other more direct forms of democracy.
On the specific of same-sex marriage I don’t see the Cardinal’s logic. If politicians do not have a moral right to ‘redefine’ marriage in the light of natural law and God’s revealed intentions for humanity then how does a majority vote by citizens legitimate such a revision?

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Steven

16/07/2012

Article 12 ECHR enshrines the right to marry subject to national laws. Those national laws currently restrict the right so that only heterosexual unions can be recognised as such. However, this legal restriction must not unlawfully discriminate against other persons, including Gay and Lesbian folk who wish to marry. Discrimination on this basis can only be justified if there is an objective and reasonable justification. The law now permits same-sex adoption in the UK and so it seems to me legally inconceivable that it shall not now permit equal marriage.

Ergo – there is, in my view, already a legal right to equal marriage [in so far as the current restrictions are themselves unlawful].

Indeed I am surprised that a test case has not been brought to challenge the current restriction although in the mouth of potential legislative change a court would be slow to get involved.

For those who are interested in the legal aspects, a good starting point is to consider the Northern Irish case on unmarried couples and adoption, P (A Child) (Adoption: Unmarried Couples) [2008] UKHL 38.

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