Ruth Kelly is trying to water down new anti-discrimination laws to let Catholic adoption agencies turn away gay couples.
Backed by Tony Blair, the embattled Communities secretary is at the centre of a full-scale cabinet row over the new gay rights laws.
She was forced to postpone a formal letter setting out the exemption late last week because of opposition by her senior colleagues, The Independent on Sunday has learnt.
But Ms Kelly, a devout Catholic and member of the Opus Dei sect, remains determined to include a loophole for her church in the Equality Act 2006 which comes into force this April. A spokeswoman for Ms Kelly, who has overall responsibility for equality, said the minister wanted to "protect the pool of prospective parents" and would be trying to find a "pragmatic way forward" this week.
The Indie also reports:
Certainly Gordon Brown is fully aware of the potentially negative electoral impression of the issue, especially in Scotland, which goes to the polls this May to elect a new Scottish Parliament.
The repeal of the legislation forbidding the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools was deeply contentious north of the border, especially in Labour Catholic heartlands on the west coast. The Scottish Executive has written to Ms Kelly asking that she take a "balanced" view - in effect supporting her attempts to win an exemption.
Can this be true? The Executive is supporting a move to exempt the Catholic Church from certain requirements of the Equality Act? And why have we not heard about this before now? If the Executive has taken a policy position on this matter (which it is perfectly entitled to do), why has it not said so? Or did it hope to keep the matter quiet, while appeasing the Church and avoiding upsetting the gay rights lobby?
1 comment:
We shouldn't be too surprised at this move. Labour have a habit of ducking sensitive issues and letting Westminster do the dirty work. Of course, Labour want to get back into the good books with the Scottish Catholic hierarchy. The editorials in the Scottish Catholic Observer say it all. Nasty SNP (despite Roseanna Cunningham's attempts), and brave McConnell (who voted against Roseanna's amendment).
The principle at stake here is whether Westminster should seek to over-turn the democratic decisions of the Scottish Parliament!
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