Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield: ...between Ministers and civil servants. It is this terrain upon which I would like to descend first in today’s debate. These relationships, which make up what I would call the governing marriage between temporary Ministers and permanent officials, depend upon confident Secretaries of State and confident civil servants in candid symbiosis, raising the quality of each others’ game. The...
Lord Morrow: ..., defending Mr Garner, told the court that he was remorseful and understood that his actions had devastated the lives of himself, his family, his friends and his victims. She added that his marriage appeared to be over and that his matrimonial home, his only asset, had been sold to help to pay off the civil claim made by the investors against him. These are just two examples of the...
Shona Robison: ...’ interests at the heart of continuing improvements. To ensure that the Scottish Government fulfils its international obligations on violence against women, we propose to criminalise forced marriage. Everyone in Scotland who is eligible to marry or enter into a civil partnership has a right to do so freely. We have a proud record of tackling all forms of violence against women, including...
Justine Greening: ...moment for the UK and for our Government’s approach to international development. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stone on introducing this private Member’s Bill on gender equality in international development. In fact, all the organisations I know supported him as he prepared it. As MPs, we all know that we may spend many parliamentary sessions putting our names into the...
Steven Agnew: I have very little time because Mr Allister spoke for quite a long time. I will if I have time. I will fight for anybody's right for equality of opportunity, and the reasons for poorer outcomes need to be investigated. However, there is no doubt that homophobic bullying has been exacerbated by the comments of some Members of the Assembly and some members of political parties in the...
Peter Hain: ...have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” I remember reading those powerful words aged 14,...
Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government are committed to equality of treatment before the law, and we have demonstrated this in the legislation that the Government have already taken through this House and the other place, including the Succession to the Crown Act, which removed the male bias with regard to the descent of the Crown and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act. We are not, however, persuaded that this Bill...
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2013, Official Report, column 979W, on marriage, if she will raise the matter of equal marriage with the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister and take steps to encourage them to introduce same-sex marriages in Northern Ireland.
Maureen Watt: Last week in the chamber, we had some excellent personal and emotional speeches about individual freedoms and equalities during the stage 1 debate on the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill. Today, a similar emotion flows on the SNP benches in relation to the freedom and equality that we seek for our country, Scotland, and its citizens. In a few months, it will be 40 years since I...
the Countess of Mar: ...right by demonstrating. However, while they have that right, I believe that those of us who work in the Palace of Westminster, and particularly those who work in offices on the West Front, have an equal right to work in an environment that is not polluted by electronically enhanced voices and music at volumes which, at times, become unbearable. On one occasion during the passage of the...
Michael Fabricant: ...she has had with the (a) Prime Minister, (b) Deputy Prime Minister, (c) First Minister of Northern Ireland and (d) Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland on the timetable for the introduction of equal marriage in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.
Johann Lamont: ..., Helen had a lifelong commitment to the values of the Labour and co-operative movement. Leaving school at 15, she quickly became involved in trade union activity—and I understand that, equally quickly, she was sacked for that trade union activity. She went on to work for the GMB in London for many years and she influenced the Labour Party at its very heart and centre throughout the...
Alex Neil: The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill will make a number of changes to the law on marriage and civil partnership, but the centrepiece is obviously the legalisation of same-sex marriage, which will allow all people in Scotland who love each other the same opportunity to have their marriage recognised in the eyes of the law. That will create a more tolerant society in Scotland and...
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: ..., for his contribution. He has raised one or two matters which I shall certainly take back to officials to discuss further. As my noble friend has explained, it is crucial for victims of forced marriage to be able to ensure that the marriage that they have been forced into is subsequently rendered void as a matter of law. While I agree that this is important, especially to the victims of...
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: ...difficult one. That is the focus and the emotion that the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, spoke about with such eloquence. It is the first step. We are leaving the civil route open but, equally, we need to ensure that the deterrent of this being a criminal offence is also available for the victim. I defer to the noble and learned Baroness’s expertise in this field but the...
Meg Hillier: I hear what my hon. Friend suggests, but we could equally look at it as aligning adulthood with the age of marriage and, indeed, military service. People can join the military at 16, but they will not be on the front line until they are 18. Some young people say that they are not informed enough to vote, but if we were to agree to amendment 44, even if the referendum never went ahead, we...
Caitriona Ruane: ...actions. You can dress it up and you can dance around it, but, at the end of the day, it is discrimination against our LGBT communities. That is what it is, whether we are talking about equal marriage, the ban on blood donations, or adoption. [Interruption.]
Shona Robison: ...women at work. Statutory maternity provision was introduced and it was made illegal to sack a woman because she was pregnant. Reference has been made to the law of no defence in respect of rape in marriage. At all those points in history, important things have been won by women. We should remember that women were at the vanguard of all those battles—many of them were battles indeed. We...
Jackie Doyle-Price: I want to turn to the concerns you have expressed about sham marriages, and the application of the Bill to the Anglican Church. Obviously, if someone presents themselves to their local vicar and says that they want to get married, the Church has an obligation to marry them. Equally, it is incumbent on the officiating cleric to satisfy themselves that the marriage is legitimate. When we get...
Lord Nash: The noble Lord implies that casual equals laissez-faire; we do not accept that. As I said, we accept that most schools should do what all good schools do, which is to have an active programme of promoting their children’s interest, including drugs education, which they must be taught about in science classes anyway. Often, the best way to engage those pupils with those difficult issues,...