Jeremy Corbyn: I will bring same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland
Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to bring same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland if he becomes Prime Minister.
Same-sex marriage became legal in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014, but as it is a devolved issue, it continue to be blocked in Northern Ireland by the Democratic Unionist Party.
The left-wing MP, who is the current front-runner to succeed Ed Miliband as leader of the Labour Party, was speaking at an event in West Belfast.
Responding to a question about the ongoing ban on same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, he said: “I have always supported homosexual law reform. I supported gay marriage, and I was very proud when it went through in Parliament. I thought that was an enormous step forward.
“I would want to, and I hope this can be agreed, an extension of the equalities legislation that we received in the UK Parliament to all parts of the UK. That is my position, I feel very very strongly about that.
“I realise there are sensitivities, I realise people don’t always agree with that – I’ve been to many debates in my own constituency on it – but if you engage in an open and honest debate, you can make progress on it.”
The MP previously told PinkNews that countries that oppose equality around the world should face “consequences” – even at the cost of diplomatic ties.
He said: “Countries that have trade agreements with the EU – all EU trade agreements have a human rights clause.
“Many of those countries have knowingly signed trade agreements. It is a question of enforcing those human rights clauses, which can, of course, lead to economic and diplomatic consequences.”
