Now that the debate on marriage is open, let us
make the most of it. Any marrying couple should be entitled to register their
marriage as bound by the law prior to 1969 with regard to grounds and
procedures for divorce, and any religious organisation should be enabled to
specify that any marriage which it conducted should be so bound, requiring it
to counsel couples accordingly.
Statute should specify that the Church of England
be such a body unless the General Synod specifically resolved the contrary by a
two-thirds majority in all three Houses, with something similar for the
Methodist and United Reformed Churches, which also exist pursuant to Acts of
Parliament, as well as by amendment to the legislation relating to the
restoration of the Catholic hierarchy. Entitlement upon divorce should be fixed
by Statute at one per cent of the other party’s estate for each year of
marriage, up to fifty per cent, with no entitlement for the petitioning party
unless the other party’s fault be proved.
That would be a start, anyway. The marital union
of one man and one woman is a public good uniquely and in itself, and
the taxation system, among so very many other instruments of public policy,
ought to recognise that fact. It ought to recognise marriage as a unique
public good, to which civil partnerships (which, never having needed to be
consummated, ought not to be confined to unrelated same-sex couples) are not
comparable. And it ought to recognise marriage as a public good in itself,
whether or not there are children, a related but different public good of which
other forms of recognition rightly exist.
Didn't you say Labour wouldn't whip their MPs on this issue. That's not what the BBC are reporting.....
ReplyDeleteI can tell you with absolute certainty that that is the case. I have just had a phone call (how they have my mobile number, I have no idea) asking me to make that clear, apparently because my readers may be few, but they are all the right people to whom this point needs to be made. I am more than happy to do so.
ReplyDeleteThat's really impressive. Who was the phone call from?
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to tell you.
ReplyDeleteWho asks a question like that?
ReplyDeleteOn topic, please.
ReplyDelete