>In contrast, the Lib Dems did manage to pass same-sex marriage
It's my pet peeve when people claim this.
The UK already had same sex marriage, it was just not called marriage. Labour brought that in. The bill you refer to just renamed it, plus it gave religious orgs a get out from equalities legislation and tidied up non-same-sex marriage rules.
And the only reason it passed was because of Labour. The majority of Tories voted against their own parties bill. And 10% of Lib dems did too.
Like so many of Clegg's achievements, it was a triumph of (false and misleading) advertising over substance...
In exchange for not supporting a bill that didn't really do what was claimed, the tories got total support for all of their economic and social policies.
> The UK already had same sex marriage, it was just not called marriage.
Sure, but marriage isn't just about legals/financials. Socially/culturally, civil partnerships are a "runner up prize" compared to marriage; e.g. the recent extension of civil partnership to opposite-sex couples didn't get much fanfare.
In any case, I was specifically referring to the 2013 act, rather than the broader notion of marriage/partnerships/etc. It's the inconsistency which frustrates me, to see people thanking Cameron/Tories for delivering same-sex marriage (i.e. the 2013 act) in one breath, and blaming Clegg/LibDems for delivering tuition rises in the next.
> And the only reason it passed was because of Labour
Absolutely. The LibDems couldn't do much to swing votes themselves; hence the back-room negotiations, whips, etc.
> And 10% of Lib dems did too.
True, but that's still just 4 MPs; so I'm not sure it's too statistically insightful. Still disappointing considering the whole point of liberal philosophy is personal freedom (unfortunately some like to interpret "personal" as "the corporation I own/represent", and "freedom" to include freedom to pollute, freedom to choose my own health & safety levels, etc.)
> In exchange for not supporting a bill that didn't really do what was claimed, the tories got total support for all of their economic and social policies.
To be clear, the bill which did that would be the AV referendum (which LibDems most cared about). Also, some Tory policies were blocked by the LibDems, e.g. the Digital Economy Bill.
It's my pet peeve when people claim this.
The UK already had same sex marriage, it was just not called marriage. Labour brought that in. The bill you refer to just renamed it, plus it gave religious orgs a get out from equalities legislation and tidied up non-same-sex marriage rules.
And the only reason it passed was because of Labour. The majority of Tories voted against their own parties bill. And 10% of Lib dems did too.
Like so many of Clegg's achievements, it was a triumph of (false and misleading) advertising over substance...
In exchange for not supporting a bill that didn't really do what was claimed, the tories got total support for all of their economic and social policies.