Conservative MPs call for referendum on same-sex 'marriage'
Conservative MPs have called for a referendum to be held on the government’s plans to redefine marriage ahead of next week’s debate in the House of Commons.
Amendment
David Burrowes, Tim Loughton and Jim Shannon are amongst the MPs who have tabled an amendment to the Marriage (Same Sex) Couples Bill to allow a public vote to be held on the same day as the 2015 general election.
The amendment – supported by up to 150 MPs – calls for the British public to be asked:“At present, the law in England and Wales defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Should the law be changed to define marriage as the union of two people - whether a man and a woman, or woman and a woman, or a man and a man?”
No mandate
Mr Burrowes said that there was no mandate for the move which he described as a “significant social change that needs to be dealt with properly.”
He added: “Despite 13 sittings of the bill committee and a majority of Conservative MPs voting against the bill, the government has not amended one word of it.”
MPs will vote on the bill next week when it returns to the House of Commons for its third reading.
Undemocratic
“It’s widely known that this bill has been introduced without any mandate,” said Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Concern.
“It wasn’t in any of the major parties’ manifestos, the Coalition Agreement or the Queen’s Speech. The whole process has been thoroughly undemocratic. People have never been given the chance to vote on this even though it has big social and constitutional consequences. MPs should therefore back this referendum”.
Watch MP David Burrowes discuss the proposal for a referendum on The Daily Politics (BBC) >
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