To paraphrase – I don’t agree with those who have spoken out against same-sex marriage – but I absolutely defend their right to do so. What I don’t defend and have been quite horrified by are those who have used extreme language or hysteria in pursuit of their argument. Hopefully we won’t hear or see that again as this live and let live policy progresses.

But you don’t have to agree with it to allow those who do want to get married to do so. If two same sex people in a love relationship want to demonstrate their love and commitment to each other in the universal institution of marriage – making  public promises for a lifelong monogamous commitment to each other until death do them part –  then our role as a Government is to facilitate that union.

Ever since I first introduced the idea that the Coalition Government should legislate on same sex marriage – in addition to state conducted marriage – there have also been a number of religious organisations who want to be able to conduct same sex marriages: Quakers, Liberal Jews and some Unitarian Churches for example. I am hopeful that when the Government response to the equal marriage consultation is published later this week that those religions that wish to carry out marriages will be permitted to do so. That is religious freedom. Of course the big fear from those religions who don’t want to carry out such services is that they will be forced to do so. Ironically, if the legislation is permissive on religious freedom to conduct same sex marriages – that will protect absolutely those who do not wish to do so in statute.

Of course I have observed the ranks on the Conservative back benches who are very vocal against same sex marriage. And today in the Sunday Telegraph another Conservative group of senior Conservatives have come out fighting for the proposals. I am pleased to see the progressives in the Conservative Party fighting back. Nick Herbert MP has been a stalwart supporter and ally in helping move this agenda forward all the way through. And I just would have thought that Conservatives would have learned the lessons of their past. Anyway – that is their business.

Same sex marriage is just a live and let live policy. Stonewall put it best:

‘To all those who don’t agree with same sex marriage Stonewall’s strong advice is not to marry someone of the same sex.’

I am also hopeful that one day when this legislation and time has passed – instead of labelling this gay marriage, equal marriage or same sex marriage – it will just be marriage!

Here’s my latest email to constituents in Hornsey and Wood Green – 

It’s getting closer to the festive period, and Labour-run Haringey Council have an unwanted gift in store for vulnerable residents – a 20% increase in their Council Tax bill.

Next year, Council Tax benefits will be replaced by a Council Tax localisation scheme. Pensioners will be unaffected, but all adults of working age who were receiving benefit may have to pay the extra money – if the Council refuses to cover the cost.

In these tough economic times, the Government cannot give local authorities an endless supply of money, so some funding has been reduced. But it is down to local authorities – like businesses, government and families – to adapt and prioritise their spending.

Some Liberal Democrat controlled councils such as Cheltenham will not pass on any costs to their residents, so they will be unaffected by the change. Others such as Bristol have applied for funding from the Government to make sure residents don’t lose out.

We’re calling on Haringey Council not to make vulnerable residents pay more. We think they should instead cut their massive publicity budget (£2.5 million in one year!) and cut wasteful spending.

The Council could also decrease their outrageous spending on agency staff – £38m on agency staff since 2010 and £1.6m on consultants in the last 18 months.

Cutting this expenditure would ensure that vulnerable residents do not lose out in the New Year.

Please do send me your views on this. Please also pass this email on to any friends, colleagues or neighbours who may be affected.

I recently blogged about HIV and AIDS here following my visit to the AIDS Consortium AGM. And of course – today is World AIDS Day.

There is a message from Nick Clegg on the DFID website setting out some of our work on HIV and AIDS. And it was good to see David Cameron too raising the issue of the number of people in this country who are infected and don’t even know.

Whether here or in Africa – the crucial step is to get tested. The world has moved on so far, thank goodness, from those early terrifying days and years. Now we can live with AIDS – so long as we know our status.

Yesterday, on the final day of my visit to Zambia, the Minister of Gender and I launched 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence in Zambia. This is a UN worldwide initiative, running from International Day of Eliminating Violence Against Women on 25 November to Human Rights Day on 10 December.

I shared with the audience some of our experience of tackling violence against women in the UK – still a huge challenge – and our determination to support vulnerable women across the world. This includes a new research and innovation fund to prevent and tackle violence against women and girls, announced yesterday in London (link to DFID page on the new research fund).

Some have described the 2000’s as a lost decade for women’s rights in Zambia. Zambia ranks 131 out of 146 countries in the Gender Inequality Index and 47% of women in Zambia have experienced gender-based violence. But I have been encouraged during my visit to learn of more recent progress – including a law against gender-based violence passed last year.

One influential woman determined to make a difference is the First Lady, Dr Christine Kaseba-Sata. She explained to me Zambia’s progress in implementing its commitments made at the Family Planning Summit (London, July 2012). Dr Kaseba-Sata, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in Zambia for more than 25 years, is also determined to tackle maternal mortality and cervical cancer – the most common cancer in Zambia. What a fantastic example of a woman using her expertise and position to make a difference for the most vulnerable in her country.

I finished my visit by meeting four impressive senior public servants tackling corruption in Zambia (including two women in the roles of Auditor General and Director General of the Anti-Corruption Commission). I urged them to continue their vital work to prosecute those who abuse their office and to help strengthen transparency in government.

It has been a privilege to visit this beautiful country and to meet those who are building a brighter future – from a newly-qualified Community Health Assistant to the First Lady, from the international exporters Zambia Sugar to local farmers, and from rural schoolteachers to the Ministers of Justice and Finance. And I have been delighted to see UK aid and diplomacy in action, supporting the poorest and urging more from those in power.

With the High Commissioner James Thornton and the First Lady, at the State House in Lusaka, Zambia

I spent today in Zambia’s Southern province to see some of the vital work being delivered in education, health care, private sector development, social support, and reducing gender-based violence. I wanted to meet those most directly impacted by these programmes and to hear their stories.

For example, Metiness Chandi, a disabled mother of three in Monze district, who now receives income support through the Government of Zambia’s social protection programme. Metiness has used this income to build hard-roof housing for her family, to buy chickens, and to send her children to school. Her life has changed from desperation to hopefulness.

60% of Zambians live on less than $1 a day. In rural Zambia, 57% live in extreme poverty and are unable to meet basic food needs. Through the social protection programme, 99,000 recipients (84% of them women) will be reached by 2015 – over 60% funded by UK aid.

At ASAZA clinic in Mazabuka, set up to support survivors of gender-based violence, I met several women who had summoned the courage to seek help and confront their husbands’ violent and abusive behaviour. Barbara Mbewe’s husband used to get drunk and beat her regularly. She went to ASAZA who offered refuge in a safe house and counselling. ASAZA also wrote to her husband to challenge his behaviour and offer him support to change. He accepted, and is now a member of the Men’s Network, advocating change in his community. Other men refuse help and about half of cases go to court. This clinic, together with the bravery of women and men in the community, is bringing justice and changing attitudes.

My first visit since arriving in Zambia was to a UK-funded adolescent girls empowerment programme in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of the capital, Lusaka. This programme is supporting more than 1,500 of the most vulnerable girls, providing safe spaces and mentoring to help build their confidence and life skills.

The girls I met told me they were learning about their rights as women. One 16 year old girl said she now felt more confident to say no to unwanted approaches from boys. Another said the girls now understood that if a spouse or boyfriend attacked his partner, she had the right to go to the police. This is a much-needed message in a country where 63% of women aged 15-24 report wife-beating to be justified under certain conditions.

Perhaps most inspiring are the girls’ hopes for the future. They are encouraged to dream big. When I asked the girls what they wanted to do in life, hands shot up around the room. The wanted to be doctors, lawyers, journalists, nurses, teachers – one even said President of Zambia, to much applause.

Girls like these will negotiate greater security and opportunity for women in Zambia. But they will also need role models and wider support if they are to achieve their ambitious goals – an issue I have since been discussing with key Zambian Ministers.

This programme will reach 10,000 girls over the next two years, hopefully unleashing a powerful ‘girl effect’ that will challenge social norms and practices of violence and discrimination against women in Zambia.

I am currently in Zambia, in my DFID role and as UK ministerial champion for tackling violence against women and girls overseas. This coincides with the UN day for eliminating violence against women (yesterday.) Here is the text of  my Huffington Post blog, written on Saturday. You can see the original here. 

… Sunday 25 November is the UN day for eliminating violence against women, which I’m marking with my first ever visit to Zambia. Physical and sexual abuse of women is a global scourge, that transcends borders. From the UK, where one in four women will be the victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime to Zambia, where 47% of women have suffered gender-based violence. Much has been done to improve the plight of women but, in Zambia as elsewhere, cultural norms are often still a barrier to change.

As the UK government’s ministerial champion for tackling violence against women and girls overseas, I feel a great sense of responsibility. Changing mindsets and preventing violence before it starts is crucial. And there is evidence of progress. In Zambia, the government has created a new Ministry of Gender this year. A new Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme will provide mentoring and ‘safe spaces’ to 10,000 vulnerable girls. Such developments are hugely welcome and we must grasp this chance to garner more global support.

There is still so much to be done. In recent years, many countries devastated by conflict have seen increasing levels of gender-based violence. Women and girls, men and boys are all victims of sexual violence where rape is used as a weapon of war. In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence mostly involving women and girls have been documented since 1996. I’m optimistic that with the Foreign Secretary’s preventing sexual violence initiative we can step up our work to tackle this heinous crime and provide the justice so desperately needed.

Improving rule of law and access to justice is key to giving women the voice they need. We have helped install justice systems like the Sexual Assault and Referral Centre (SARC) in Somaliland, meaning that a woman who was raped by seven men was able, through extreme courage on her part, to bring the perpetrators to justice. It’s evident – that given the right support, women will fight back.

Across Africa the SARC initiative has seen a dramatic increase in the conviction rate of violence against women cases from 35% to 60% in the target locations. This can be attributed to the work undertaken with the police, hospitals, courts and the Sexual Assault and Referral Centre. We now need creative and determined efforts to build on this success and help empower women to confront perpetrators of violence and tackle impunity on a larger scale, across the continent and beyond.

One opportunity to really make a difference is at the annual meeting of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, an event where these issues are given an international spotlight. It is terribly frustrating that the most recent meeting in March failed to reach any agreed conclusions. We must do everything in our power to defend the hard-gained progress on women’s rights and equality which is being undermined on the international stage. We must ensure that the international community agrees a set of global standards next March, to help protect women and girls everywhere from discrimination and violence.

On my trip to Zambia, I look forward to seeing projects that are making a real difference to the lives of women and girls. The absence of international cooperation cannot ever be a justifiable reason for failing to protect the worlds female population.

Here’s a sneak preview of my latest email due to go out to local constituents on my email list:

Winter is coming and inevitably, it’s getting colder and colder. At this time of year, a warm home is vital, particularly for families, the elderly and vulnerable people.

But it isn’t always easy – Energy companies have been hiking up prices and have made it difficult for many people to keep their homes warm.

That’s why my Lib Dem colleague Ed Davey – the Energy Secretary – has developed numerous Government grants and discount schemes to help people with the cost of their winter bills. Here’s an overview of the many discounts and grants available:

The Winter Fuel Payment is for anyone born on or before the 5^th July 1951 is entitled to a tax free payment from the Government, ranging from £100-£300 to help with heating bills. This year, you should receive the payment automatically – but do let me know if you haven’t and I will chase it up.

The Warm Front Scheme means that households can improve their heating or insulation at no cost. If your property is poorly heated or if you do not have working central heating system, the Warm Front Company will come and do the work – and the Government will pay the bill directly.

The Warm Homes Discount is run jointly by the Government and Energy companies, and gives recipients a £130 discount on Bills. It is generally targeted at the over 80’s – but some energy suppliers provide to others, such as people on disability living allowance.

In short – it’s well worth taking a look at these grants and seeing if you’re eligible! Energy companies do offer discounts to certain customers, so it may well be worth contacting you supplier to find out if you could benefit. British Gas is also offering free insulation.

If you have any problems applying, or are not sure whether you qualify, please reply to this email with your national insurance number, and I’ll investigate it for you.

Would you like to receive emails about news like this directly to your inbox? If the answer is yes, then why not fill in this contact box.

The Telegraph interviewed me after a panel session on Violence against Women and Girls which was the final session of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Unit event on ‘Gender and Politics’.

The interview itself seemed to focus less on violence against women and far more on what held women back from equality. I think it was a statement of the bleeding obvious when I said that having babies was a bit of an issue! Anyway – you can read the interview here.

Here’s my article for Liberal Democrat News about my recent trip to Africa:

I’ve recently returned to London from a visit of firsts: my first trip to Africa in my new role as Africa Minister in the Department for International Development – the first Liberal Democrat to hold any position in DFID, of which I’m incredibly honoured.

I travelled to South Sudan, the newest country in the world after gaining independence from Sudan in July 2011. The reason for this country being the destination for my first visit is it encompasses virtually everything DFID does and all the challenges the international community can face when trying to help a country get on its feet.

First, health and education services in South Sudan are dismal and the impact on women and girls in particular is shocking. For the most part girls are considered simply ‘property’ to be sold. There is virtually no ante- or post-natal health care available. The end result? A 15-year-old South Sudanese girl is far more likely to die in childbirth than complete any secondary education.

I visited an alternative education centre for women and girls and had lunch with a few of the students there. These women and girls are desperate to learn, work hard and eventually contribute meaningfully to the advancement of their new country. In fact when I asked one teenage student what she wanted for her future, she perked up and said ‘hopefully to be President someday’! She’ll have a tough road ahead, but how I very much hope her bright light of ambition will never be put out.

Second, South Sudan faces a severe lack of infrastructure: just about 60 kilometres of paved road throughout the entire country. And this lack of basic infrastructure hinders everything from farmers’ ability to bring their crops to market to the state’s ability to deliver textbooks or medical supplies across the country. Moreover, this combined with harsh climactic conditions has meant that this year alone 258,000 people have been affected badly by seasonal flooding.

Third, the South Sudanese economy is almost entirely dependent on oil, and the oilfields remain a serious source of conflict – along with other territorial disputes – between South Sudan and Sudan. Indeed there are 170,000 refugees in South Sudan, who have fled conflict north of the border.

I visited one of the refugee camps close to the border with Sudan, and it is difficult to really convey what I saw and learned there. Despite the monumental efforts of aid agencies and the international community, there is not nearly enough food and water available to the refugees. Sanitation is very poor and there is an epidemic of Hepatitis E, for which there is no effective treatment or cure. There are reports of increased domestic violence and sexual abuse in the camp, which we know to be exacerbated when people are forced into more extreme circumstances. For more than 5,000 children in the camp there are only three schools offering (very basic) education. Given that on average people tend to spend two to five years in a refugee camp, the future prospects for the children growing up in these circumstances doesn’t look good.

So South Sudan has its work cut out. And the UK will stand with them as they build themselves a stable economy and a lasting peace.

After my visit I’m convinced more than ever that giving development aid and supporting our allies is right and smart. Right because we cannot stand by as people suffer when we are more than capable of helping. Smart because eventually countries we help will not always need our aid, but they will remember who was there for them in difficult times.

Our party’s position on the moral and practical case for aid has always been clear. For that I am proud to be a Liberal Democrat. Our Government has said time and again that, despite our economic troubles, we will not balance our books on the backs of the world’s poorest. It is up to all of us to repeat that message and convince the sceptics.