Media review – Widow of top Lib Dem quits party over gay marriage; Gay marriage won’t win Cameron the next election – Norman Tebbit; Lib Dems block move to name the father on all birth certificates; Gay marriage plays havoc with titles
Widow of top Lib Dem quits party over gay marriage
The Christian Institute – The widow of a former deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has resigned from the party after almost 50 years because of its plans to redefine marriage.
In a letter printed in a Scottish national newspaper last week, Lady Joan Johnston said gay marriage was the ‘straw that has finally broken the camel’s back’. She had been a Lib Dem member since 1964.
She made the decision following a recent email from Nick Clegg, in which he claimed one of the party’s achievements will be the first homosexual marriage before 2015.
Her late husband, Lord Russell-Johnston, was deputy leader of the Lib Dems from 1988-1992 and also President of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
Lady Johnston said: “I also take strong exception to the fact that if the Party advocates the redefining of “marriage” in this way, it follows that this will be promoted in schools as being on the same footing as traditional marriage between a man and a woman.”
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/widow-of-top-lib-dem-quits-party-over-gay-marriage/
Gay marriage won’t win Cameron the next election – Norman Tebbit
Telegraph – Norman Tebbit writes – What fun will be had amongst our legislators as they grapple with the question of the appropriate titles for the “partners” of those who receive the honour of knighthoods, or are made Dames, Barons or Baronesses. At present we live happily with the inequity of husbands receiving no title when their wives are honoured, but surely that cannot continues under the politically correct new order.
Within the can of worms that Mr Cameron is determined to open there are several nests of snakes. Why should a marriage be confined to just two persons? What is the barrier to the marriage of sisters, brothers or even parents and children?
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/normantebbit/100144912/gay-marriage-wont-win-cameron-the-next-election/
Lib Dems block move to name the father on all birth certificates
Mailonline – Radical changes to the law to require fathers’ names to be included on birth certificates are being blocked by the Liberal Democrats. Conservative ministers say unmarried mothers trying to cut a father out of a child’s life should be forced to acknowledge his role, with men given a right to insist upon a paternity test if they resist.
Meanwhile, they say, feckless fathers who refuse to be named on a birth certificate should – like mothers who decline to name a father – be liable for a fine, expected to be £200. The plan is backed by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, who says fathers should have both a right and a responsibility to be formally acknowledged by the state.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2116921/Lib-Dems-block-father-birth-certificates.html
Gay marriage plays havoc with titles
Independent – What, exactly, would be the correct title and status of the wife of a lesbian baroness?
The Coalition’s plans for gay marriage provide a once-in-a-parliamentary-lifetime opportunity to remedy a situation that penalises a long-suppressed minority and fosters unacceptable gender inequality. I refer, of course, to the grossly unfair status of husbands of titled wives.
You see, the joining-together of two men or two women in matrimony leads to a number of tricky issues of law and etiquette. One of these relates to the partners of peers and knights. What, exactly, would be the correct status of the wife of a lesbian baroness? If Sir Elton John and Mr David Furnish were to marry, what would that make David?
At the moment, only women acquire their husband’s status through marriage. If Miss Josephine Bloggs marries a king, she becomes Queen Josephine. If her husband becomes a knight, then she becomes a lady. But if Mr Joe Bloggs is joined in matrimony to a titled female, or his wife acquires an honour, he’s still plain old Joe.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/david-thomas-gay-marriage-plays-havoc-with-titles-7576819.html