Clause 115 - Dissolution
Civil Partnership Bill [Lords]
10:00 am
Mr Christopher Chope (Shadow Minister, Environment and Transport; Christchurch, Conservative)
These amendments mirror amendments that were tabled to an earlier part of the Bill but could not be discussed because of the guillotine. Their purpose is to ensure that the Bill reflects more properly the concerns expressed by, among others, the noble prelate, the Bishop of Oxford, who said:
''it is a concern to some in the Churches that the legislation enshrined in the Bill parallels that for marriage at almost every point. There is an ambiguity here that some find worrying''.—[Official Report, House of Lords, 22 April 2004; Vol. 660, c. 399.]
I find it worrying, as do a lot of people whom I have spoken to. They want to ensure that the Bill recognises that cohabitation and partnership short of marriage involve a looser bond than marriage, which is the purpose of the amendments. If they were agreed to, they would effectively ensure that civil partnerships had a different nature to marriage and were described in different language.