Gay marriage comes under fire from church and judge
Thursday 27 December 2012
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EmailA high court judge and the most senior Catholic in England and Wales came out against government plans for a gay marriage Bill this week.
Family division judge Sir Paul Coleridge said proposals were the "wrong policy" and added the government should concentrate instead on a "crisis of family breakdown."
He said: "So much energy and time has been put into this debate for 0.1 per cent of the population when we have a crisis of family breakdown. "We need a more focused position by the government."
And the Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols suggested there was no political mandate to enforce same-sex marriage laws.
He said: "There was no announcement in any party manifesto, no green paper, no statement in the Queen's Speech. And yet here we are on the verge of primary legislation.
"From a democratic point of view, it's a shambles. George Orwell would be proud of that manoeuvre. I think the process is shambolic."
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