The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, denounced the proposal and insisted that couples married for love, not to “get some cash back from the state”.
While Liberal Democrat colleagues supported Mr Clegg’s robust stance against traditional Conservative values, senior Tories insisted they would continue to campaign for the protection of the special status of marriage.
Mr Clegg will set out his views in detail in a keynote speech today, in which he roundly criticises the “oppressive” influence of social conservatisim.
Speaking to the Murnaghan programme on Sky News, yesterday Mr Clegg claimed he was not “against marriage”.
“Getting married is probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said. “But just as a liberal I think there are limits to how the state and government should try to micromanage or incentivise people’s own behaviour in their private lives. » | Tim Ross, Political Correspondent | Sunday, December 18, 2011
This is not a question of preserving 1950s values "in aspic". This is a question of preserving the family and giving children stable homes in which to grow up. Whilst Nick Clegg can be right on some issues, he is simply wrong on this one. Let us do everything to preserve the family – an institution which has served us so well over the centuries. – © Mark
