Magic Statistics

The UK Marriage Act of 1949 bars in-laws from marrying each other—or it used to bar such marriages until today.  A ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (of course!) has overturned that prohibition, and the UK government has introduced an order implementing the court’s ruling.

Until now, marrying a mother or father-in-law has only been allowed if a husband or wife has died, and both parties are over 21, or they have been lucky and wealthy enough to secure their own personal Act of Parliament exempting them from the 1949 Marriage Act.
. . .
The draft order amending the law was nodded through the Commons on Tuesday, without a debate, and is due to cross its final Parliamentary hurdle today, when a committee of peers is also expected to give it nothing more than a cursory look.

Last night, a Church of England spokesman made it clear that it would have preferred not to see the changes, but conceded that the court ruling meant the Government had no choice. He said: "We regret that it has been judged necessary to make such a substantial change.

"Retaining a legal impediment to marriage between parent-in-law and child-in-law, at least in cases where the younger party is under the age of 21, would have been our preferred outcome."

However, the spokesman welcomed the inclusion of a "conscience clause" for clergy which allows individuals to refuse to carry out a marriage ceremony between in-laws.

Hold it right there.  “A conscience clause”?!  That’s unconscionable!  It gives those backward Christians carte blanche to discriminate against children- and parents-in-law who only want society to recognise, sanction, and approve their relationship.  What could possibly be wrong with two people showing their love for each other?

The Labour cabinet must have been asleep when that dastardly conscience clause was slipped into the order.

Or is it that in-laws who want to get married are not (yet) a socially endorsed oppressed minority?   They’d better form a lobby group right away to call attention to themselves their victimisation at the hands of fundamentalist bigots.

h/t: Brendan Carlin at Little and Large

Previous related post: If you think Labour is insufferable now, just wait

Britain's Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has been forced into a humiliating retreat from his suggestion that Catholic adoption agencies should be permitted to opt out of a new law prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals.  Under the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SOR), adoption agencies cannot refuse to consider homosexual applicants as adoptive parents.  Mr Blair wanted to implement a conscience clause for Catholic and other religious agencies, but a cabinet revolt impelled him to back off.

[T]he Prime Minister issued a brief statement which all but confirmed that he had bowed to his Cabinet ministers and ruled out giving Catholic adoption agencies an opt-out from new laws that would make it illegal for them to refuse to deal with gay couples.
. . .
Earlier this week Mr Blair had infuriated ministers by saying he wanted to find a compromise that respected the “sensitivities” of both the Church and supporters of gay rights.
. . .
[S]enior Cabinet ministers swiftly lined up to say they would oppose any move to give Catholic adoption agencies exemptions from the new Sexual Orientation Regulations.

The cabinet revolt indicates how small-minded the Labour government could become after Mr Blair has departed.  Says Daily Telegraph political commentator Andrew Gimson:

The row over the Roman Catholic church’s adoption agencies has exposed the brutal intolerance of Labour MPs. These people are so certain of their own superior morality, and so contemptuous of any group which rests its claims on tradition, that they consider themselves entitled to set up a dictatorship of the virtuous.

The self-righteousness with which Labour has set out to trample down the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches is terrifying to behold. A competition has broken out between the contenders for the Labour deputy leadership to see who can be most contemptuous of the churches’ claims. We see a kind of power mania at work, and an utter inability to tolerate any other point of view.

It was only a few years ago that no reputable politician would have dared to propose that homosexuals be permitted to adopt.  Now, however, the spirit of the age has swiftly transformed social mores (or, at least, the mores of an exalted vanguard), and woe betide those who fail to keep up.

The collect for today, the Conversion of St Paul, from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

O God, who, through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Saint Paul, hast caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world; Grant, we beseech thee, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may shew forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same, by following the holy doctrine which he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For The Epistle: Acts 9:1-22
The Gospel: St Matthew 19:27-30

Painting: Paolo Veronese, Conversion of Saul, c. 1570.  Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.