Three Government ministers say halt plans to redefine marriage

May 15, 2012

The Secretary of Defence, Philip Hammond, has said the Government should put plans to redefine marriage on hold so that it can concentrate on core issues like reviving the economy.

In addition, the Minister for Children and Families, Tim Loughton, made his views known in a letter to a constituent. He said there’s no need to change the meaning of marriage, especially when there are other important matters for the Government to address.

The two men become the second and third Government ministers to voice their concern about the policy. Earlier this month Gerald Howarth, a minister in the Department of Defence, said that the Government’s plans to redefine marriage had cost the Tory Party votes at the local elections.

But Tory ministers have been slapped down by their Liberal Democrat partners in the Coalition Government. Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone, repeated her determination to rewrite the meaning of marriage regardless of how unpopular it is.