Scottish Catholic Observer

The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has vowed to force same-sex ‘marriage’ on the country regardless of public opinion or serious Church concerns.

Mr Clegg (above with his wife) made a video reiterating his commitment to changing the definition of marriage that was released last week, ahead of the release of the Scottish Cabinet’s decision on same-sex ‘marriage which is expected in two week’s time.

The Westminster Government’s separate plans to introduce same-sex ‘marriage’ have proved highly divisive.

Last month, Owen Paterson, the Northern Ireland secretary, became the first Cabinet Minister to openly oppose the plans.

A number of other senior Conservatives, including the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, have also expressed reservations.

In addition, David Cameron has been forced to allow all Conservative MPs, including ministers, a free vote to ward off a back bench Conservative rebellion and nearly 600,000 people have signed a petition, organised by the Coalition for Marriage, calling for marriage to remain the union of one man and one woman.

Redefining marriage

However, Mr Clegg indicates that some parts of the coalition are profoundly committed to redefining marriage. He recorded the video for Out4Marriage, a group campaigning to scrap the traditional definition of marriage.

“We brought forward our proposals—they have provoked a heated debate,” he said. “But these are proposals about when and how to open up civil marriage to gay and lesbian couples. It Is not a matter of ‘if’ any more.”

Opposition

Last week, the Church of England warned that the plans to redefine marriage would alter the meaning of marriage for everyone and that the plans would plunge churches into legal chaos, and undermine the links between church and state— sparking a potential constitutional crisis.

The Catholic Church has been at the forefront of the campaign against the legalisation of same-sex ‘marriage,’ with Cardinal Keith O’Brien saying allowing same-sex unions would be ‘madness’ and a ‘grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right.’

Senior Lib Dem David Laws has criticised the Catholic Church for its position.

Former minister Mr Laws claimed the Catholic hierarchy was ‘alienating’ their Church from society by polarising the debate.

“I don’t think marriage is the property of any one religion,” he said. “I think it is the property of society and it is for us in society to collectively decide what it means.”

Mr Laws resigned as a minister in late May 2010, after he was found to have claimed £40,000 of public money to rent a room in a house owned by his same-sex partner, James Lundie.

Conservative support

Another minister has also dismissed opposition to changing the definition of marriage. Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, claimed only ‘pensioners’ were against the change.

“I am a supporter of gay marriage,” the Conservative minister said. “If you look at the polling that has been done, every cohort is in favour of gay marriage, apart from the over-65s.”

However this statement was contradicted by ComRes poll, on behalf of the campaign group Catholic Voices, that found more than a quarter of gay people believe there is ‘no need’ to allow same-sex couples to marry because they already had the same rights under civil partnerships.