UK Wedding News
17/05/2013
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has criticised the Prime Minister's plans to legalise same-sex marriage.
Speaking on BBC One's Question Time, Mr Hammond added that the plans have unnecessarily upset "vast numbers of people".
Describing the amount of time the government has spent debating the issue, he explained: "I have just never felt that this is what we should be focusing on."
Hammond is just the latest minister to criticise David Cameron's proposals ahead of a new debate regarding the issue next week.
The Defence Secretary, who has been open about his opposition to gay marriage, also revealed to the BBC: "This change does redefine marriage. For millions and millions of people who are married, the meaning of marriage changes.
"There is a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the ability to change the definition of an institution like marriage."
He added that the introduction of civil partnerships back in 2005 had dealt with the "very real disadvantage" that gay couples faced in the past.
"There was no huge demand for this [gay marriage] and we didn't need to spend a lot of Parliamentary time and upset vast numbers of people in order to do this," he continued.
However, Conservative MP Nick Herbert, who is a gay former minister, argued: "How, precisely, would the the wedding of two people of the same sex in Weybridge change or devalue Philip Hammond's own marriage?"
Herbert added that opinion polls suggested the majority of the public were in favour the plans.
"Across much of the western world, the tide of change on equal marriage is running astonishingly rapidly, because public attitudes to gay people are changing at the same rate. Younger people can't understand what all the fuss is about," he said.
"I am sorry that it has caused disagreement in our party, but just as civil partnerships were opposed at the time yet became widely accepted very quickly, so I believe will gay marriage. Losing touch with the new generation of our electorate would produce a different and far more dangerous kind of pain."
The changes – which would affect England and Wales – are expected to be debated by MPs on Monday, and while the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill has split the Conservative Party, the Prime Minister is strongly in favour of the amendments, as are Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband.
When MPs were given a "free vote" on the issue in February almost half of Conservative MPs opposed it.
(JP)
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'No Huge Demand' For Gay Marriage: Hammond
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has criticised the Prime Minister's plans to legalise same-sex marriage.
Speaking on BBC One's Question Time, Mr Hammond added that the plans have unnecessarily upset "vast numbers of people".
Describing the amount of time the government has spent debating the issue, he explained: "I have just never felt that this is what we should be focusing on."
Hammond is just the latest minister to criticise David Cameron's proposals ahead of a new debate regarding the issue next week.
The Defence Secretary, who has been open about his opposition to gay marriage, also revealed to the BBC: "This change does redefine marriage. For millions and millions of people who are married, the meaning of marriage changes.
"There is a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the ability to change the definition of an institution like marriage."
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He added that the introduction of civil partnerships back in 2005 had dealt with the "very real disadvantage" that gay couples faced in the past.
"There was no huge demand for this [gay marriage] and we didn't need to spend a lot of Parliamentary time and upset vast numbers of people in order to do this," he continued.
However, Conservative MP Nick Herbert, who is a gay former minister, argued: "How, precisely, would the the wedding of two people of the same sex in Weybridge change or devalue Philip Hammond's own marriage?"
Herbert added that opinion polls suggested the majority of the public were in favour the plans.
"Across much of the western world, the tide of change on equal marriage is running astonishingly rapidly, because public attitudes to gay people are changing at the same rate. Younger people can't understand what all the fuss is about," he said.
"I am sorry that it has caused disagreement in our party, but just as civil partnerships were opposed at the time yet became widely accepted very quickly, so I believe will gay marriage. Losing touch with the new generation of our electorate would produce a different and far more dangerous kind of pain."
The changes – which would affect England and Wales – are expected to be debated by MPs on Monday, and while the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill has split the Conservative Party, the Prime Minister is strongly in favour of the amendments, as are Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband.
When MPs were given a "free vote" on the issue in February almost half of Conservative MPs opposed it.
(JP)
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