A Liberal Democrat MP has tabled an amendment to the
proposed same-sex marriage bill proposing a complete separation of state
marriage and religious weddings.
Greg Mulholland,
Liberal Democrat MP for North Leeds wants to repeal the 1949 Marriage
Act and the 2004 Civil Partnerships Act, remove clauses in the 1973
Matrimonial Causes Act for the ending of marriages on the grounds of
adultery or non-consummation, and would ban religious ceremonies from
state marriages carried out by civil registrars.
The
amendment will face intense opposition from MPs. However, Mr Mulholland
argues that separating state and religious marriage is the only way to
ensure equality and freedom of religion.
"The
Marriage Bill neither delivers equal marriage nor adequately protects
freedom of conscience," he said. "The way to deliver both is a proper
separation of civil and religious marriage, so it is clear that civil
recognition of relationships is a matter for the state, defined in law,
and this should be the same for all couples, but at the same time then
allowing belief-based organisations to marry whoever they want according
to what they believe marriage to mean.
"This is the
liberal and the fair approach, but also the commonsensical one that
would deliver equality and tolerance and would avoid some of the
pitfalls of the Bill as drafted."
Already speculation
is rife that in the unlikely event of this amendment being accepted, it
would eventually lead to the disestablishment of the Church of England.
Mr Mulholland was one of seven Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain from voting on the same-sex marriage bill in February.
The bill will go to a third reading in the House of Commons in the near future, before proceeding to the House of Lords.
Meanwhile,
in Ireland, the bishops have warned that the Church should refuse to
perform the civil elements of weddings if same-sex marriage is
introduced.
The Church in Ireland provides the
majority of marriage solemnisers in the republic.
Around 4,300 out of
the 5,600 on the register are Catholic priests.
The
issue is being considered by a Constitutional Convention as recognition
of same-sex marriage would require an amendment to the Irish
constitution. The constitution requires the state to guard the
institution of marriage with "special care" and "protect it against
attack".
Over 1,000 submissions have been made on the
issue to the Constitutional Convention including a 10-page written
submission from the Irish hierarchy.
In this document, the Bishops'
Council for Marriage and Family signaled a willingness to withdraw the
Church's services to solemnisers in protest.
Should this happen, up to 70% of marriages could be affected.
In
their submission, the bishops stated: "It is important to note that in
Ireland, the Church and the State co-operate closely in the
solemnisation of marriages. Any change to the definition of marriage
would create great difficulties and in the light of this, if there were
two totally different definitions of marriage, the Church could no
longer carry out the civil element."
This could mean
the republic would have to adopt a similar model to other European
countries where Catholics would have to get married in a register office
as well as taking part in a religious ceremony in church.
Legal
recognition for civil partnerships in Ireland was granted in 2010 and
gave same-sex couples most of the rights afforded to married couples.