I was present in the House of Lords on Monday and Tuesday, June 3 and 4. Predictably, to listen to the whole debate on the same-sex marriage bill gave a very different picture to that presented by the media afterwards.
A long series of devastating criticisms were made of the bill, including the principle of the bill, the process by which it has been pushed through Parliament so far, and the many unintended consequences that might follow.
Stunning speeches
There were some stunning speeches. The highlight, for me, was hearing Lord Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff of the British Army, arguing that the way the bill had been pushed through has been an abuse of democracy. He said (among many other things!): ‘Following due process and procedure is a principle that I spent the 40 years of my professional life upholding. We fought for the ballot box for 38 years in Northern Ireland. We stood for democracy against Communism for 44 years in Europe. We stood for the democratic rights of self-determination in the Falklands in 1982 and we still do. And now as a Parliamentarian I am asked to accept an abuse of the democratic process and I will not do it’.
