Tuesday 11 September 2012

Bigots Have Votes

In, among other places, the North of Scotland, the West Country, and Mid Wales.

What is the only party always to have promised a free vote on the redefinition of marriage, the only party that has not talked itself into having that redefinition in its 2015 Manifesto, doing to channel those votes?

3 comments:

  1. Which begs the question: how many Labour MPs would actually vote against the coalition proposals in a free vote?

    Because, if it turns out to be less than half for sure, then that gives the lie to Miliband being the leader of the traditionalist party that many of us long for Labour to be.

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  2. We shall almost certainly never find out.

    The thing looks less and less likely to be brought to the floor of this Parliament, especially if things turn as ugly as they might at this year's Conservative Party Conference.

    Labour's only commitment will be to a free vote if anyone should ever try and introduce this as a Private Member's Bill, which probably no one ever will, and which would in any case subject it to the mercy of the Government's managers of parliamentary time, who can just kill PMBs, and who do so on a very regular basis.

    No wonder that Clegg's speech-writer boys are so frustrated.

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  3. Wrong on both counts. Maria miller has confirmed that a vote will take place, given this is one of the few issues which cameron thinks would harm him in London - an important area for the Tories - if he dropped it
    The Labour party has, today, both called for same sex marriages to be allowed in churches who wish to carry them out, and has also indicated that the parliamentary vote will be whipped.
    I'm afraid you are very much out of touch with the dominant view of the party on these issues. A handful of 'usual suspects' will vote against. The vast majority will support extending marriage to same sex couples

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