Clause 1 - Civil partnership
Civil Partnership Bill [Lords]
9:30 am
Mr Christopher Chope (Shadow Minister, Environment and Transport; Christchurch, Conservative)
I certainly do not wish to encourage adulterous relationships, and I am sure that my hon. Friend does not wish to do that either. The short answer is that I do not know how many of that 4 million fall into that category, but I do not think that my hon. Friend is comparing like with like. If the Bill were proposing same-sex marriage, his argument would carry weight because, under human rights law, it is possible to set up marriage and discriminate against relationships outside marriage. However, the Government are legislating specifically to set up a relationship outside marriage that will have a legal status superior to other relationships outside marriage.