The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 had a specific focus on extending marriage to same-sex couples who could not previously marry. The Act did, however, stipulate that there should be a review of civil partnership in England and Wales.
We carried out a full public consultation on the future and operation of civil partnership in 2014, receiving almost 11,500 responses, during which a range of views were expressed. The majority of respondents were against broadening civil partnerships to include opposite sex couples. The decision not to extend civil partnerships to opposite sex couples was recently subject to Judicial Review that found the current system does not discriminate against heterosexual couples. There is, of course, the option for all those in a civil partnership to convert it into a marriage; however I recognise that not all couples in civil partnerships wish to do this. I believe that it is entirely reasonable for the Government to wait to see the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples before deciding on the way forward.
By Patrick McLoughlin on November 17, 2016