Politician ‘lifted’ anti-gay marriage speech from Tory MP
A politician on the Isle of Man has been accused of lifting parts of a speech opposing same-sex marriage from Tory MP Tim Loughton and a newspaper column.
Mr Loughton, the Member of Parliament for East Worthing and Shoreham, has been a proponent of opposite-sex civil partnerships – giving a speech in Parliament in October in which he called their omission from marriage legislation an “unintended but glaring equality”.
However, Mr Loughton appeared very surprised to hear from PinkNews that Zac Hall, a politician on the Isle of Man, has given a speech opposing same-sex marriage in which he appeared to recount Mr Loughton’s comments word-for-word.
The Isle of Man maintains autonomy from the UK – and is currently discussing same-sex marriage legislation, which Mr Hall was speaking against.
The two speeches are below, with identical wording in bold.
Introducing his civil partnerships bill in the Commons, Mr Loughton said: “There are two main rationales for supporting the Bill. First, it will correct what I have mentioned as an unintended but glaring inequality resulting from the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act whereby same-sex couples are still entitled to continue in a civil partnership, to take up a civil partnership or to enjoy the recent extension of marriage, while opposite-sex couples have only the option of conventional marriage, albeit by a larger range of religious institutions.
“That is not fair. It gives rise to an inequality in what was billed as an Act to promote equalities.
Speaking to oppose same-sex marriage in Tynewald, Mr Hall said: “You do not have to be a person of faith to value the centuries of tradition which societies the world over have attached to the institution of marriage; and, as has been pointed out, the unintended but glaring inequality resulting from the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, whereby same-sex couples are still entitled to continue in a civil partnership, to take up a civil partnership or to enjoy the extension of marriage, while opposite-sex couples have only the option of conventional marriage, albeit by a larger range of religious institutions. That is hardly fair.
“It gives rise to an inequality in what is being billed by the Chief Minister as a Bill to promote equalities, and in my view it does seem to fly in the face of notions of equality”
PinkNews also ran the speeches through a plagiarism checker. Mr Loughton’s speech is on the right, and Mr Hall’s is on the left. (click to enlarge)
Mr Loughton, who voted against same-sex marriage himself back in 2013, told PinkNews he had “never heard” of Mr Hall.
Manx Radio also alleged that Mr Hall lifted other sections of his speech from an article in the Irish Catholic.
Check another side-by-side comparison below. The Irish Catholic article is on the right, and Mr Hall’s speech is on the left. (click to enlarge)
Manx Radio reports that Mr Hall is too ill to respond to requests for comment.
