Four Lincolnshire MPs vote against gay marriage legislation
Four Lincolnshire MPs voted against gay marriage despite the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill getting the backing of the House of Commons last night.
The Bill had 400 MPs voting in favour and 175 against, a majority of 225.
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Four Lincolnshire MPs voted against gay marriage in the House of Commons last night
Lincoln's Conservative MP Karl McCartney voted against, as did Sir Peter Tapsell, MP for Louth and Horncastle.
John Hayes, MP for South Holland and the Deepings and Gainsborough MP Edward Leigh, who spoke during the Commons debate before the vote, also went against Prime Minister David Cameron.
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During the debate, Mr Leigh said: "We should indeed treat one another with tolerance and treat everybody's sexuality with understanding, but the fundamental question we are deciding today is whether English law should declare for the first time that two people of the same sex can marry.
"Parliament is sovereign—we can vote for what we want—but we must be very careful that law and reality do not conflict.
"In 1648, the Earl of Pembroke, in seeking to make the point that Parliament is sovereign, said that Parliament can do anything but make a man a woman or a woman a man.
"Of course, in 2004, we did exactly that with the Gender Recognition Act.
"We are now proposing to make equally stark changes to the essence of marriage.
"During the civil partnership debates, I was given solemn assurances on the Floor of the House, including by some sitting on the Opposition Benches now, that the Civil Partnership Act would not lead to full same-sex marriage."
Sleaford and North Hykeham MP Stephen Phillips was not present for the vote, but intends to vote in favour at the third reading stage.
Only Nick Boles, Grantham and Sleaford MP and Mark Simmonds, MP for Boston and Skegness, voted in favour of the Bill.
Meanwhile, a group of University of Lincoln societies, including Liberal Youth, The Amnesty Society and Labour Students, as well as members of the local community, will be marking the passing of the Bill with a day of celebrations.
They will be meeting in Castle Square, at the top of Steep Hill, for a flash-mob that will involve facepainting, singing and dancing before moving down the High Street to the University of Lincoln for speeches.
It will start at 1.30pm on February 9.
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by Pete67
Thursday, February 07 2013, 6:37AM
“I see people are giving me reds. Many seem to forget we are now in the 21st century and the Bible was written by men a couple of thousand years ago. For the ones who want to take fully what the Bible says I would suggest you read - Matthew. 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.". Have the ones red penning never heard of the more modern 'Live and let live'? Then again are the comments on here only for the denigration of MPs who have voted as their conscience told them, which as such I respect their views.”
by InsideStory
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 6:35PM
“I have tried to contact my local MP on two occasions (December & January this year) not regarding this subject i may add but on personal issues and she didn't even reply to either so contacting your local MP does no good if they ignore your emails .”
by Pete67
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 4:17PM
“To my mind any Minister willing to perform a same sex marriage should be able to do so without ANY interference from the Government or their particular Church. Forcing from one or the other will not solve anything. By the way I am a straight Christian (C of E).”
by eatmygoal
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 3:54PM
“Well as a starter for ten, where do I live? Secondly, how many accounts does an average person posting on here hold? Thirdly, are people who post on here more likely to be of a certain political persuasion? And for the final bonus question, how many people post on here relative to the population he serves?”
by impetuous
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 2:55PM
“I won't communicate with my MP because he is rude and arrogant therefore he is left with reading a local news website if he wants to find out views that do not agree with his own. A website that canvasses views from the local population. Think your view is odd personally in that you do not think he should be using every source available to him to find out what his electorate think. Perhaps he should be less arrogant now that he and his party have not been able to gerrymander loads more tory voters into his constituency.”
by eatmygoal
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 2:09PM
“If he does not read the views of annoymous website posters he is not doing his job? Seems an odd view point to me.”
by impetuous
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 1:45PM
“I pointed out what I though on here when it was mooted that my obnoxious (from personal experience) local MP was going to vote against. If he does not read this website then he is not doing his job.”
by gsx1100
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 1:05PM
“How many of you moaning about your MP, have actually contacted them to air your view on this subject? To contribute on this site proves you have access to a pc so if you didn't, why not?”
by eatmygoal
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 11:37AM
“What does the population they represent think? I have not seen it anywhere. I have to admit I have my doubts as to how much difference it would make as Edward Leigh is a staunch Catholic so the vote would most likely be personal, but I don't know what the ward he represents think.”
by Trinityimp
Wednesday, February 06 2013, 11:17AM
“Just proves how detached from the the people who voted them in they are”