Almost 6 out of 10 members from the House of Lords agree that the Government should halt its plans for same-sex ‘marriage’ until it becomes clear whether there is broad public support.
Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, disclosed last month that 53 per cent of responses to the online listening exercise were in favour. However, this figure discounts the views of more than half a million opponents who signed the Coalition for Marriage(C4M) online petition.
The Government is due to publish the “equal marriage” bill in the next few weeks. It is expected to pass the Commons despite a likely rebellion by more than 130 Tory MPs but the outcome of a vote in the Lords is far less clear.
Polls
A ComRes poll of peers carried out for C4M found that 56 per cent agreed that the Government should “not proceed” with the changes if the consultation does not show “broad support.”
Three quarters of Conservative peers and 67 per cent of cross-benchers polled favoured a pause but only 15 per cent of Liberal Democrats did so.
A separate poll of MPs found two thirds of members in the Commons are opposed to using the Parliament Act to get legislation through if it is blocked by the Lords.
Nicknamed the “nuclear option” of Parliamentary procedure, the Act has been used only a handful of times in the last century.
Rushed through
“The reservation amongst peers that comes across in this poll is not surprising given the way that this legislation has been handled,” said Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern.
“It is being rushed through without robust debate and consideration of the wider issues concerning the redefinition of marriage. A large section of the public is opposed to redefining marriage. Plans to introduce same-sex ‘marriage’ were not mentioned in any of the major parties’ manifestos.
“It seems that the Lords are more willing to take account of these problems than the Coalition Government, which seems determined to make these changes whatever the cost”.
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