The Government’s same-sex ‘marriage’ bill has passed its third reading in the House of Commons after MPs voted 366 to 161 in favour.
A total of 133 Tories voted against the proposed legislation with only 117 voting in favour, causing embarrassment for the Prime Minister who had to rely on Labour votes to see it through.
Among those to oppose the bill were Welsh Secretary David Jones, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, transport minister Simon Burns and John Hayes, the Prime Minister’s senior Parliamentary advisor.
Pledge
Following the vote, David Cameron attempted to ease the concerns of backbenchers by promising not to focus on policies such as same-sex ‘marriage’, but on bigger issues such as the economy and education.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme he said: “But if you’re saying to me, ‘Is this the first now of many other issues like that?’ No it isn’t. The Government now is going to be absolutely focused on the big picture, which is fixing our economy, reforming welfare, making sure there are good schools for our children to go to.”
Next stage
The bill will now proceed to the House of Lords where sources suggest Conservative peers oppose the bill by a margin of more than two to one. This means that Mr Cameron will again have to rely on Labour and Lib Dem votes.
Lord Dear, a crossbench peer, has tabled a “fatal motion” aimed at killing the bill. He said there was a “strong possibility” that the bill would be defeated at the second reading vote on 3 June.
Prayer gatherings
Hundreds of Christians gathered to pray outside the Houses of Parliament over two days when MPs were debating the bill.
“We’re now turning our attention to the Lords vote,” said Andrea Minichiello Williams of Christian Concern.
“We know that there are a number of Peers who will be voting against the bill and we believe it can be defeated in the Lords.
“It was fantastic to see so many people come along to pray during the Commons debate. Christians feel strongly about marriage because we believe that marriage between a man and a woman is best for human flourishing and therefore for our country. We’ll continue to pray for our leaders and continue to campaign as the bill moves through the House of Lords.”
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