Tag Archives: prime-minister

Gay marriage bill limps on after Tory deal with Labour

Posted on May 20, 2013

David Cameron: caught between progressive and hardline elements. Photo: Reuters

LONDON: Britain’s coalition government must do a deal with Labour as it fights off attempts by Tory backbenchers to derail its controversial move to legalise gay marriage.

Tory MP Tim Loughton on Monday saw support for his amendment to allow straight couples to take up civil partnerships cut to 70 MPs after Culture Secretary Maria Miller pledged to review extending the measure immediately rather than after five years, as originally planned.

Ministers also promised to review the possibility of exempting teachers and schools from equality legislation forcing them to inform children about gay marriage in sex education classes, as they sought to appease Tory backbenchers angry at the reforms.

Mr Loughton, an education minister until last September’s reshuffle, at one stage seemed to have enough support among his colleagues on the Tory backbenches and Labour MPs to scupper the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill by introducing an amendment allowing straight couples to take up civil partnerships.

Ministers had warned that if every cohabiting heterosexual couple had been allowed to enter a civil partnership, the Treasury would have been left facing pension liabilities of up to 4 billion ($6.27 billion), a cost that might have brought an end to the legislation.

The Labour leadership, who support the bill, were mindful that they could unwittingly ruin it by supporting Mr Loughton and tabled their own amendment calling on Ms Miller to review introducing civil partnerships for all as soon as possible.

The minister decided to take up the offer and on Monday night the government had seen off opposition, mainly from the Tory backbenches.

The debate has deepened the rifts in Prime Minister David Cameron’s party.

I warned him, others warned him. This was self-inflicted.

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Gay marriage law strains Cameron's leadership

Posted on May 20, 2013

By Andrew Osborn

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron’s flagship gay marriage policy deepened a rift in his own party on Monday after many of his own MPs defied him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government.

Almost 40 percent of Cameron’s 303 MPs in the Commons voted for an ultimately unsuccessful amendment that would have allowed registrars to refuse to perform gay marriage ceremonies if they objected.

Scores backed another amendment that the government said would have sabotaged its efforts to legalise same sex unions.

Cameron’s failure to unite his ruling Conservative Party over gay marriage and over his other major policy – renegotiating Britain’s membership of the European Union – risks undermining his chances of being re-elected in 2015 even as the economy is showing signs of returning to growth.

“It’s a perfect political storm. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Cameron,” Iain Dale, a prominent gay radio presenter and conservative blogger, told Reuters.

The revolt, the second of its kind on gay marriage, is likely to damage Cameron’s credibility.

To compound his discomfort, he is also battling to squash a perception that he despises his own party members for being too conservative after newspapers quoted an unnamed member of his entourage as calling activists “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

The word “loon”, meaning a crazy person in British English, dates back to the 15th century and was used by Shakespeare in Macbeth. Conservative activists say they want an apology for being insulted. Cameron wrote to party workers on Monday to try to reassure them that he and his allies weren’t sneering at them.

Geoffrey Howe, the former foreign secretary who helped trigger the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, has accused Cameron of losing control of his party, deepening the sense of gloom.

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Gay marriage law strains Cameron's leadership

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Gay marriage law strains Cameron's leadership, government

Posted on May 20, 2013

By Andrew Osborn

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron’s flagship gay marriage policy deepened a rift in his own party on Monday after many of his own MPs defied him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government.

Almost 40 percent of Cameron’s 303 MPs in the Commons voted for an ultimately unsuccessful amendment that would have allowed registrars to refuse to perform gay marriage ceremonies if they objected.

Scores backed another amendment that the government said would have sabotaged its efforts to legalise same sex unions.

Cameron’s failure to unite his ruling Conservative Party over gay marriage and over his other major policy – renegotiating Britain’s membership of the European Union – risks undermining his chances of being re-elected in 2015 even as the economy is showing signs of returning to growth.

“It’s a perfect political storm. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Cameron,” Iain Dale, a prominent gay radio presenter and conservative blogger, told Reuters.

The revolt, the second of its kind on gay marriage, is likely to damage Cameron’s credibility.

To compound his discomfort, he is also battling to squash a perception that he despises his own party members for being too conservative after newspapers quoted an unnamed member of his entourage as calling activists “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

The word “loon”, meaning a crazy person in British English, dates back to the 15th century and was used by Shakespeare in Macbeth. Conservative activists say they want an apology for being insulted. Cameron wrote to party workers on Monday to try to reassure them that he and his allies weren’t sneering at them.

Geoffrey Howe, the former foreign secretary who helped trigger the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, has accused Cameron of losing control of his party, deepening the sense of gloom.

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'Gay Marriage Has Made It Impossible For Tories To Win The Next Election'

Posted on May 19, 2013

Tory activists have attacked David Cameron’s support for gay marriage, claiming it has made it impossible for the party to win the next general election.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, more than 30 present and former local party chairmen warned that Mr Cameron’s backing for a change in the law had led to voters switching their support to Ukip.

They wrote that many of the lost supporters would not contemplate returning to the Conservative fold unless legislation for gay marriages was abandoned “or the party leadership changed”.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill returns to the Commons tomorrow for two days of debate, with many Tory MPs expected to oppose it on a free vote.

The letter to Mr Cameron was organised by the Grassroots Conservative group, whose chairman Bob Woollard said: “The Prime Minister’s bizarre drive to ram this legislation through Parliament, without any democratic mandate and without the support of party members has been a disaster and has driven thousands of voters to Ukip.

“The marriage-based family is at the heart of Conservatism. This dilution and unraveling of marriage has demotivated many ordinary loyal Conservative Party members and has undermined their years of hard work for something they believed in. It makes winning the next election virtually impossible.

“It is vital that the PM and those around him concentrate on the issues that matter to voters – cleaning up the economic mess left by the previous government, tackling immigration and sorting out the Europe question. For the sake of our children they should also strengthen conventional marriage.”

The letter says Mr Cameron’s “refusal to listen to reason and grassroots opinion is causing many previously loyal Conservatives to leave the party; some are lost forever and many will not contemplate re-joining unless the Bill is abandoned or the party leadership changed”.

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'Gay Marriage Has Made It Impossible For Tories To Win The Next Election'

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Gay marriage laws have created 'real sense of anger', Philip Hammond says

Posted on May 17, 2013

The Prime Minister will be keen to avoid yet more splits in his party over same-sex marriage so soon after more than 100 Tories condemned the official Coalition position on Europe.

They voted to express regret at the Queen’s Speech for not containing laws that promise a referendum on the EU because the Lib Dems are blocking it.

Mr Cameron dampened that revolt by publishing Conservative draft laws pledging an EU poll, which will be brought forward by a backbencher and later debated in parliament. However, some of the same rebels are likely to cause trouble for him again next week over same-sex weddings.

Some opponents of gay marriage are “resigned” to the laws passing, while others are campaigning for further changes, such as the concession on civil partnerships.

Mr Loughton, a former children’s minister, wants MPs to vote for his amendment to the gay marriage laws to bring in equal civil partnerships sooner than the Government’s 2019 review.

Speaking in BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, he denied this was a spoiling tactic designed to derail the entire Bill.

The genie is out of the box. The Government has already created two tiers by bringing in gay marriage. We just need to be consistent here.

Theres a lot of people who for whatever reason … don’t want to get involved with the whole paraphernalia of marriage but are in a committed relationship and a third of them have children as well.

Civil partnerships were introduced under Labour in 2005 as a means of allowing gay couples to formalise their relationships in law, offering them the same legal rights and recognition as married couples. Some 50,000 civil partnerships have been formed so far.

The same-sex marriage Bill, which would legalise marriage for gay and lesbian couples for the first time, returns to the Commons to begin its closing stages of debate next week.

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Gay marriage laws have created 'real sense of anger', Philip Hammond says

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Israel approves 296 West Bank settler homes

Posted on May 9, 2013

Israel has given the go-ahead to build nearly 300 homes in the settlement of Beit El near Ramallah, a spokesman said, in a move likely to spark tensions as Washington seeks to rekindle peace talks.

“The Civil Administration has given the green light for 296 housing units at Beit El, but this is only the first stage of a process before actual construction can begin,” he said, speaking on behalf of a unit within the defence ministry which administers the West Bank.

He explained that the construction plans were part of a compensatory measure for settlers who were evicted last year from Ulpana, an unauthorised outpost on the outskirts of Beit El which was evacuated following a High Court ruling.

The announcement came just two days after a report said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had quietly ordered a freeze on tenders for new settler homes in a bid to give a chance to US-led efforts to revive moribund peace talks with the Palestinians.

Hagit Ofran of Israel’s Peace Now settlement watchdog denounced the move.

“This initiative proves Netanyahu is deceiving the world,” she told AFP.

“On the one hand, he lets us believe that he is putting the brakes on settlement and on the other, he gives the go-ahead for an enormous building project.”

Direct peace talks broke down shortly after they were launched in September 2010 because of an intractable dispute over Israel’s settlement building, which is widely accepted as a violation of international law.

The Palestinians say they will not return to negotiations unless Israel freezes construction on land they want for a future state.

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Conservatives key to gay marriage vote: PM

Posted on May 5, 2013

The success of gay marriage laws around the world depends on conservative MPs getting a conscience vote, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

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Why gay marriage polarised France

Posted on April 21, 2013

Gay marriage may have passed with barely hitch in many countries, but it has kicked up a huge storm in France, a country often seen as the champion of secularism and notoriously relaxed on issues pertaining to private life.

Smelling blood after a bruising first year for President Francois Hollande, right-wing leaders have mobilised a fierce campaign.

But sociologists argue that France’s social fabric and identity crisis also helps explain the ferocity of the debate.

The cheers and Maori love song that greeted the legalisation of same-sex union in New Zealand’s parliament Thursday were in stark contrast to the escalating rage a similar bill is causing in France.

In parliament, MPs nearly came to blows this week; gay activists have reported a rise in attacks on homosexuals; and millions of people have taken to the streets to declare their opposition to the bill, vowing to fight to the bitter end.

The divisions over gay marriage in France follow political lines, and the opposition has united against the bill, seizing an opportunity to pile pressure on an already embattled administration.

“It was the first chance for the right-wing electorate to express their opposition to Francois Hollande’s presidency and (Prime Minister) Jean-Marc Ayrault’s government,” political analyst Jean-Yves Camus said.

After Nicolas Sarkozy’s failed reelection bid and subsequent political retirement left France’s mainstream right in tatters, the opportunity was threefold for his UMP party, Camus said.

“It is now an opposition party and needs fresh momentum. The negative social and economic context favours the spread of discontent, and the president’s ratings are abysmal,” he said.

The new law is expected to pass on Tuesday, which would make France the world’s 14th country to legalise same-sex unions.

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Parties planned ahead of gay marriage bill vote tonight

Posted on April 17, 2013

Source: photos.com

More than 1000 Australian same-sex couples say they will fly to New Zealand to get hitched if a bill to legalise gay marriage passes through Parliament.

Politicians are expected to back gay marriage in a vote tonight, making New Zealand the 13th country to do so.

*onenews.co.nz will be live streaming and live updating the reading and vote of the bill tonight. Gay marriage advocate Rodney Croome says a survey by his organisation, Australian Marriage Equality, has found more than 1000 couples plan to travel to New Zealand to tie the knot.

The Kiwis would now get a slice of the estimated $700 million spent by Australian same-sex couples on their weddings, he said.

Most Australian same-sex partners would prefer to marry the person they love in the country they love, Croome said.

“But now that marriage equality is only three hours away there will be a flood of couples flying to New Zealand to tie the knot and spend their money,” he said in a statement.

New Zealand was set to reap a massive economic dividend from the wedding spend of those Australian same-sex couples who were tired of their country’s failure to act.

Last year, an attempt to legalise gay marriage failed in the Australian parliament, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard opposed to the move, and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott refusing coalition MPs a conscience vote.

Crowds expected at Parliament

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Aussies plan NZ weddings if gay marriage bill passes

Posted on April 17, 2013

Source: photos.com

More than 1000 Australian same-sex couples say they will fly to New Zealand to get hitched if a bill to legalise gay marriage passes through Parliament.

Politicians are expected to back gay marriage in a vote tonight, making New Zealand the 13th country to do so.

*onenews.co.nz will be live streaming and live updating the reading and vote of the bill tonight. Gay marriage advocate Rodney Croome says a survey by his organisation, Australian Marriage Equality, has found more than 1000 couples plan to travel to New Zealand to tie the knot.

The Kiwis would now get a slice of the estimated $700 million spent by Australian same-sex couples on their weddings, he said.

Most Australian same-sex partners would prefer to marry the person they love in the country they love, Croome said.

“But now that marriage equality is only three hours away there will be a flood of couples flying to New Zealand to tie the knot and spend their money,” he said in a statement.

New Zealand was set to reap a massive economic dividend from the wedding spend of those Australian same-sex couples who were tired of their country’s failure to act.

Last year, an attempt to legalise gay marriage failed in the Australian parliament, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard opposed to the move, and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott refusing coalition MPs a conscience vote.

Crowds expected at Parliament

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Aussies plan NZ weddings if gay marriage bill passes

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