Equal Marriage is the most important thing – but Labour can’t let Equal Civil Partnerships get the “long grass” treatment

So after toying with support for the Tim Loughton amendment over the weekend, Labour has decided to abstain on that particular amendment, and propose their own.

Let’s be clear – the most important news today is that Equal Marriage will pass through the commons, and that’s a cause for huge celebration for all but an isolated minority in the Labour Party.

I made clear this morning that I didn’t buy the argument that supporting the Loughton amendment would stop or delay the Equal Marriage Bill. I think those who argue otherwise are neglecting that David Cameron is (much to his credit) willing to go to the wall over Equal Marriage, despite huge opposition from his own party. Indeed a spokesman for the PM said this morning that the government would push ahead with the Equal marriage Bill if the Loughton amendment passes.

Yet Labour evidently felt that the risk of Equal Marriage getting bogged down in a debate about Civil Partnerships was too great. I disagree – but Equal marriage is hugely important, so I can can respect the decision to take the route of least resistence to getting Equal Marriage passed.

What is a concern though is that Equal Civil Partnerships may now be referred to “full public consultation”. Anyone who has even taken part in such a consultation knows that this is often code for kicking an issue into the long grass. As I noted this morning, the argument that Equal Civil partnerships would have a cost to Exchequer proves that there is demand for such a change. It would be a real disappointment to millions of heterosexual couples who might wish to pursue Civil Partnerships if this now received the long grass treatment.

But this isn’t just about those couples – if we are to seek real equality then there should be no legal distinction between the choices for legal partnership available to same sex couples and opposite sex couples. The law should treat everyone equally in this regard.

As a bare minimum, Labour should make implementing Equal Civil Partnership a manifesto commitment for 2015, and although it should by no means be a priority, the party should also pledge to introduce legislation along such lines in the next parliament. If Yvette Cooper and Ed Miliband won’t do that, then all the consultation will do is bury the issue.