Schedule 4 - Effect on marriage
Gender Recognition Bill [Lords]
9:30 am
Mr Tim Boswell (Daventry, Conservative)
I know that the Minister used to be a choirboy in the cathedral in my constituency, so there are lots of connections in this debate. I shall now get back to the point. In England, someone may not permit a marriage that they would have to carry out, but may not be able to prevent a marriage from taking place in their church.
The Minister knows that in some parishes in England—one is near where I live—there are strong reservations on the quite separate issue of women priests. There is a particular view about Church order and practice—I am talking about the Anglican Church. Those parishes may not wish to have Church order disrupted behind the incumbent's back, as it were. It is important for the Minister to explain the basis for that apparent distinction. Why is the apparent advantage extended to the Welsh clergy not extended to the English clergy? Is there no material difference?