Nick Clegg: Britain will never forget the arrival of equal marriage on Saturday
The arrival of equal marriage in England and Wales on Saturday is a day that it’s hoped Britain will always remember, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said.
The Liberal Democrat leader made the remarks whilst answering a question on the subject at Deputy PMQs on Tuesday.
Stephen Gilbert, the Liberal Democrat MP for St Austell and Newquay asked Mr Clegg: “Will my Right Honourable Friend join with me in sending our best wishes and congratulations to those same-sex couples across our country who will get married this Saturday for the first time.”
The Deputy Prime Minister replied: “Mr Speaker I strongly want to join my Right Honourable Friend in recognising the joy of many same-sex couples who will finally be able to marry under British law this weekend. It’s a great, great moment, it’s a day which they will always remember and I hope it’s a day the nation will never forget. I think it’s a great, great step forward for us all.
On Saturday 29 March, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act for England and Wales comes into force. Scores of same-sex weddings will take place at the stroke of midnight.
Same-sex couples in Scotland will be able to marry in the country by the end of 2014, following this month’s Royal Assent of Scotland’s equal marriage law.
Northern Ireland is now the only remaining UK nation where equal marriage has not been legalised.
“These same-sex wedding ceremonies will mark not just the beginning of a new life for some as husband and husband or wife and wife, but also a landmark moment for all gay couples and individuals across our country,” Mr Clegg wrote.
