MPs launch fresh appeal on same sex marriage in Northern Ireland after upskirting saga
2 min read
MPs from across the political divide have urged Theresa May to bring forward laws to legalise same sex marriage in Northern Ireland.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, they argued she should prioritise the bid the way she did for a bill to ban upskirting that was blocked in the Commons last week.
A backbench bill on equal marriage by Labour MP Conor McGinn is waiting to return to the Commons after it was similarly halted by a single objection in March.
He has been joined by Tory former Cabinet minister Justine Greening, Labour chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee Yvette Cooper and Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, among others.
In a letter in the Times today, they write: “We welcome the Prime Minister stepping in to back a Private Members’ Bill to make ‘upskirting’ a specific criminal offence in Government time, after it was blocked at Second Reading last week.
“As MPs from across the House of Commons, we were disappointed that a Bill to legalise same sex marriage in Northern Ireland was recently blocked in exactly the same way.”
They added: “Now is the time for the Government to help this vital cause by bringing the Bill to legalise same sex marriage in Northern Ireland into its own time in the House of Commons.”
The bill to ban upskirting returned to the Commons in government time yesterday after it was blocked last Friday by Tory MP Christopher Chope.
After the move sparked public outrage, Mrs May said: “What we’re going to do on this upskirting issue is put in Government time and make sure that legislation is there on the statute book.”
But it is unlikely the Prime Minister will do the same for the same-sex marriage bill, after she argued the power should lie with the Northern Irish assembly, which collapsed almost 18 months ago.
In March, Mrs May told the Commons: “We hope that there will be a Northern Ireland executive in place soon that will be able to address these issues.”
The debate is made harder for the Prime Minister by the fact the DUP - whose 10 MPs prop up her minority government - are deeply opposed to same sex marriage.
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