| Civil Partnership Bill [Lords]
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Mr. Duncan: In the few remaining minutes, I should like to echo what I believe is the view of the Committee. This should be a nationwide Bill, and there should not be left in the United Kingdom a pocket of potential discrimination that leaves the legislation like a car missing a wheel. It should be uniformly applied, so that we can remove the absurdity of not being able to have a unified taxation system and people having to leave Belfast to come to England to exercise their rights. Perhaps I can echo what my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham has said. The point he has hit upon embraces all the arguments that govern the entire view that anyone might have of this Bill. It is to do with the link between God and politics. The amendment is motivated by the belief that Northern Ireland has a higher level of religious observance and Column Number: 223 therefore should be free to impose its views on Northern Ireland distinctly from the rest of the United Kingdom.I commend to the hon. Member for Lagan Valley three pamphlets written consecutively in the early 1970s—''Law, Liberty and Morality'', by H.L.A Hart, Devlin, who became a Law Lord, and a priest called Mitchell. They try to wrestle with the extent to which any politician should impose some kind of uniform moral view through the exercise of law in a country. When I read those pamphlets as a teenager, I concluded that we should not do so, largely because it will not work, but also because one should not. Religion is about choosing to live one's life as one chooses, not about imposing that model on others through the power that we have as Members of Parliament. In my view, that fundamentally should govern how we as parliamentarians approach the application of this law throughout the United Kingdom. Jacqui Smith: This has been a very good debate. I intend to leave sufficient time for the will of the Committee to be tested on the amendment, but the Government strongly believe that the principles of social justice and fairness should apply to the treatment of same-sex couples in Northern Ireland, as they do to same-sex couples in the rest of the United Kingdom. Any delay or postponement of the commencement of civil partnerships in Northern Ireland would undermine those principles. That argument has been made very strongly by several hon. Members. Of course, the continuing suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly is unfortunate. The Government continue to work with the parties in Northern Ireland to reach an agreement that will lead to the restoration of the Assembly, but in the meantime, the good governance of Northern Ireland must continue. The people of Northern Ireland expect that, and they are entitled to it during the period of suspension. While the Assembly remains suspended, legislation concerning Northern Ireland must be made by this Parliament. We have heard no convincing reasons why commencement of the legislation should be delayed. In fact, what we have begun to identify in this debate is, I suspect, the real reasons behind the approach of the amendment with regard to delaying the commencement of the legislation. As other hon. Members pointed out, there has not been any other legislation on which the hon. Member for Lagan Valley or his colleagues have argued for a delay in commencement. That can only lead us to the conclusion that the argument is not about devolution or the sovereignty of the Northern Ireland Assembly, but about opposition to the Bill. As other hon. Members suggested, it behoves us to be clear about what our motivation is. In this debate, I am not sure that that has been clear. The hon. Member for Lagan Valley suggested that there is no support for the legislation in Northern Column Number: 224 Ireland. It is worth while to remind him that the majority of organisations in Northern Ireland that responded to the consultation—they include the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions—supported the Government's policy that civil partnership registration should be introduced to Northern Ireland at the same time that it is introduced to the rest of the United Kingdom. The SDLP, the Women's Coalition, the Alliance party, the Green party, the Progressive Unionist party and Sinn Fein all support the inclusion of Northern Ireland in the Bill. So there is cross-community support for the provisions.I can go further still. As my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland identified this morning, since the introduction of the Bill at the end of March, the Government have received more than 400 letters from gay and lesbian people in Northern Ireland and their families and friends supporting the establishment of civil partnership. On the point that the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) raised, of course the Assembly will, once it is restored, be able to revisit these issues and legislate on them within the remit of transferred matters. The benefit of having a specific Northern Ireland consultation is that it enables people in Northern Ireland to raise any additional Northern Ireland-specific issues that have not previously been addressed. I support many of the arguments made by my hon. Friends and by Opposition Members as to why we should oppose the amendment. The principles are such that they should apply across the United Kingdom. There is no good reason why some couples should remain in an uncertain position while other same-sex couples in the rest of the UK can benefit. Whether in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh or London, lesbian and gay people must be able to benefit from the Bill at the same time as couples elsewhere. We strongly oppose the amendment, and I hope that the hon. Member for Lagan Valley will feel able to seek to withdraw it. Column Number: 225 Question put, That the amendment be made:— The Committee divided: Ayes 3, Noes 12.
Division No. 85]
AYES
NOES
Amendments made: No. 97, in clause 253, page 125, line 10, after 'sections' insert
No. 98, in clause 253, page 125, line 10, after 'Schedules' insert
No. 120, in clause 253, page 125, line 11, at end insert—
No. 121, in clause 253, page 125, line 12, leave out from beginning to 'and' in line 15 and insert—
(c) subject to paragraph (d), section 244(1) and Schedule 24 come into force in accordance with provision made by order by the Secretary of State, (d) the provisions of Schedule 24 listed in subsection (7A), and section 244(1) so far as relating to those provisions, come into force in accordance with provision made by the Department of Finance and Personnel, after consulting the Secretary of State, and (e) sections 244(2) to (6)'.
No. 122, in clause 253, page 125, line 16, at end insert—
(a) Part 2; (b) in Part 5, paragraphs 62 to 80, 81, 83 to 92 and 95 to 97; (c) Part 6; (d) Parts 9 and 10; (e) Part 13.'.
No. 123, in clause 253, page 125, line 21, after 'Parliament' insert
No. 124, in clause 253, page 125, line 23, leave out 'and'. No. 125, in clause 253, page 125, line 27, at end insert
( ) section 251(2A) and Schedule (Minor and consequential amendments: Northern Ireland) and, so far as relating to any provision which extends to Northern Ireland only, section 251(3) and Schedule 29 come into force in accordance with provision made by order by the Department of Finance and Personnel, after consulting the Secretary of State.'.—[Jacqui Smith.]
Column Number: 226 It being Five o'clock, The Chairman proceeded, pursuant to Sessional Order D [6 November 2003] and the Order of the Committee [19 October], as amended [21 October], to put forthwith the Questions necessary to dispose of the business to be concluded at that time. Motion made, and Question put, that Clause 253, as amended, stand part of the Bill:— The Committee divided: Ayes 12, Noes 3.
Division No. 86]
AYES
NOES
Clause 253, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
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