UKIP and Tories dismiss Lib Dem claims they would repeal same-sex marriage in coalition
Senior Conservatives have dismissed Liberal Democrat claims that they would abolish same-sex marriage as part of a coalition with UKIP.
The Lib Dems made the claim on an official parody website set up by the party for ‘Blukip‘ – the nickname for a mooted coalition between the Conservatives, UKIP and the Northern Irish DUP.
They wrote: “Our plans to abolish gay ‘marriage’… call us old fashioned, call us traditional – but we just don’t like gay marriage.”
A senior Tory source told PinkNews: “This shows the desperation of the Lib Dems, rather than be proud of what they helped achieve in Government they are now playing petty – and pretty desperate – politics with it.
“The Conservative Party had more openly gay and lesbian MPs than the Lib Dems and Labour put together in the last Parliament and as David Cameron has made clear there will be no reversing on this policy; the Conservative Party believes in marriage and extending it to same-sex couples was the right thing to do.”
A UKIP spokesman told PinkNews separately: “The level of desperation and scaremongering of this new Liberal Democrat campaign is gutterish.
“They used to boast about being the nice party, today they make things up. UKIP have made it absolutely clear that we will not revisit the same-sex marriage legislation.
“The Lib Dems know this but choose instead to fabricate. They do not deserve to be taken seriously in this election, and looking at the polls it is clear that the British public doesn’t.”
Tory Vice Chair Mike Freer told PinkNews: “It’s absolute nonsense… it’s utter tosh.”
Colm Howard-Lloyd, the Chairman of the Conservative Party’s LGBT group LGBTory, told PinkNews: “The Conservative-led government worked hard to deliver same-sex marriage and we are rightly proud of this achievement.
“The suggestion from the Liberal Democrats that a Conservative government would repeal this landmark legislation is desperate stuff from a party facing heavy defeat at the election.
“The Conservatives will continue to work to remove barriers that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can face and advance their opportunities in order to secure a stronger community for everyone and a better future for Britain.”
When asked “If UKIP won a general election, would it seek to overturn the marriages of the tens of thousands of same-sex couples who will be married by May 2015?”, the leader answered “No.”.
