Dear Mr Rutley

I am a church Pastor in Macclesfield but before that I am a husband and a father and I am deeply concerned at recent events surrounding marriage.

I am writing concerning the recent news that the government are seeking to change the legal definition of marriage in the UK.

I am also concerned at the undemocratic way this is being undertaken by the government, especially considering the following:

• Redefining marriage wasn’t a manifesto pledge of the Tories, the Lib Dems or Labour. There is no mandate for change; nobody voted for this.
• A real consultation means listening to the people before making a decision. Why is the public being ignored like this?
• The public don’t want this: 70% want to keep marriage as it is, and over 230,000 (including me) have signed the national petition for marriage.
• Marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Politicians should not play politics with marriage.

Whilst single issue voting is not normally my preferred tactic this would certainly seriously affect my vote at the next election even though this might be playing into the hands of my last point.

Please urge your colleagues and those in the cabinet and shadow cabinet to take the consensus views of the nation seriously rather than bowing to minority views once more – the minority that want to alter an established and vital building block for society and in their tactics would have us believe that if we don’t do as they demand then we are being intolerant – we are not, this is not an argument about a particular sexual practice or life choice, this is about marriage and its vital place in society and the need to protect it from being damaged or watered down in any way, I would feel this strongly if the government were entertaining the notion of legalising polygamy or other forms of change simply for the sake of a minority.

 

Many thanks for all you do in service of this constituency.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Keith