{"id":2811,"date":"2013-02-06T19:48:38","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T19:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=2811"},"modified":"2013-02-06T20:18:30","modified_gmt":"2013-02-06T20:18:30","slug":"marriage-same-sex-couples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=2811","title":{"rendered":"Marriage (same sex couples)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Coalition for Marriage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/c4m.org.uk\/\">http:\/\/c4m.org.uk\/<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dear marriage supporter,<\/p>\n<p>We always said the crucial thing about yesterday\u2019s vote would be the strength of the \u2018no\u2019 vote. Before the vote, the media was speculating that we might get 130, or possibly 150 votes. We surpassed those expectations and got 175.<\/p>\n<p>Together with abstentions and stay-aways, it means fully one third of the Commons did not back the Bill last night. And more Tories voted against it than for it.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a serious blow to the Prime Minister, which is why this morning\u2019s newspapers have focused on the strength of the \u2018no\u2019 vote.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Headlines: &amp;#13&amp;#13 The Daily Telegraph: &amp;#13 'Half of Tories defy PM on gay marriage'  &amp;#13&amp;#13 The Times: &amp;#13 'Cameron reels from huge revolt on gay vote' &amp;#13&amp;#13 Daily Mail: &amp;#13 'Cameron humbled by Tory gay vote rebellion' &amp;#13&amp;#13 The Guardian: &amp;#13 'Ministers and most Tory backbenchers reject Cameron's 'step forward''\" src=\"http:\/\/gallery.mailchimp.com\/09b50bf032ab47d3992863a44\/images\/6Feb13Headlines.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"545\" align=\"left\" \/>Although Labour and the Tories promised a \u2018free vote\u2019, there have been reports of severe behind-the-scenes pressure put on MPs by the hierarchy of both parties. That is shameful, but well done to those brave MPs who resisted the arm-twisting.<\/p>\n<p>Even supporters of the Bill spoke about the shocking way the issue is being rammed through Parliament with unseemly haste. Others said the Bill doesn\u2019t go far enough because they want civil partnerships opened up to straight couples \u2013 a move that could cost the taxpayer \u00a35bn.<\/p>\n<p>There will be further votes and speeches in the Commons before the Bill moves on to the House of Lords. Last night\u2019s strong \u2018no\u2019 vote will embolden the Lords, where the voting arithmetic is very different to the Commons.<\/p>\n<p>Last night\u2019s vote was important, and I am pleased that we achieved a very strong \u2018no\u2019 vote. The opposition to the Government\u2019s plans has shocked Westminster insiders, and that opposition is growing.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s all to play for, and we will be contacting supporters soon with news on how to take the campaign forward.<\/p>\n<p>To see a list of how MPs voted,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/c4m.us4.list-manage2.com\/track\/click?u=09b50bf032ab47d3992863a44&amp;id=90b937da35&amp;e=f83d5c490a\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yours sincerely,<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Colin Hart\" src=\"http:\/\/gallery.mailchimp.com\/09b50bf032ab47d3992863a44\/images\/chsig.png\" width=\"150\" height=\"54\" \/>Colin Hart<br \/>\nCampaign Director<br \/>\nCoalition for Marriage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coalition for Marriage http:\/\/c4m.org.uk\/ Dear marriage supporter, We always said the crucial thing about yesterday\u2019s vote would be the strength of the \u2018no\u2019 vote. Before the vote, the media was speculating that we might get 130, or possibly 150 votes. &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=2811\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2811"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2813,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions\/2813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}