The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols and The Rt Rev Mark Davies of Shrewsbury are both quoted in The Independent today as using part of their Christmas messages to oppose the government’s proposals on equal marriage.

I profoundly believe and fight for freedom of speech and I defend their right to say what they have said. So I pen this not in anger – but in sorrow.

Of course you can disagree with equal marriage. You can believe that it can only be between a man and a woman. You can ultimately resist getting married to someone of the same sex if you don’t want to when this becomes law. What you surely cannot do is simply rail against the fact that not everyone subscribes to your point of view and then try to stop others living life in a different way than your religion dictates.

And it is quite shameful to argue against equal marriage on the grounds that religions will be forced to conduct such marriages. The Government’s intention to make it possible for those religions that wish to conduct such services to have the freedom to so do –  and the Government is bending over backwards (some would say too far) to ensure any fears of religions being forced to conduct such marriages are unwarranted.

It is even more shameful when that argument is lost to simply shift to the next argument as being the most important – that there is no mandate (The Rt Rev Mark Davies’ Christmas message). Good grief! Not only did all three leaders at the time of the election and since make clear that they all supported equal marriage; not only is it in the Conservative Equality commitment document; not only is it Liberal Democrat Party policy; not only do all polls show the majority in favour of equal marriage; not only did the largest response to a consultation by government in all history also show a majority in favour – but since when did any government do only that which was in a manifesto? A manifesto is a prospectus of what a government will do – not a prospectus of all it will do. The Coalition agreement is a compromise of the two manifestos. That does not preclude – and never has – the bringing forward of further proposals which are then democratically decided by a vote in the Houses of Parliament.

The other argument brought forth and paraded is that of ‘redefining’ marriage. Well – that depends on your definition. Mine is exactly what the Archbishop of Westminster decries in his statement – that where there is love and commitment between two people that is all you need for marriage. He also argues that these matters have not been given much thought. Oh please! This issue has probably had more thought and discussion than any other issue of the day!

It is very disappointing that religious leaders who object so forcefully to equal marriage seem to have so little faith in their own beliefs. If their religious beliefs are that marriage can only be between a man and a woman – they should have the confidence in their flocks to believe that too. And if it is their own flocks’ potential for disagreeing with them that is their real fear – then that is a matter for religious leaders and their congregations to sort out.

This is all about love actually!

Here’s my most recent column for the Muswell Flyer and Highgate Handbook. Note that since writing – the Lib Dems in government increased the personal tax allowance even more – meaning ordinary workers will now get a £600 tax cut! You can read all previous Muswell Flyer articles here: http://beckybeach.net/?s=lynne+featherstone

The cold weather has set in and Christmas is just round the corner. It’s the end of the year – and what a year 2012 has been. We had the jubilee celebrations followed by the spectacle of the London Olympics and Paralympics – and I’ve been busy too, in Hornsey and Wood Green, Government and Parliament.

This year two long standing constituency campaigns have produced successful results. For five years, I fought for fairer funding for Haringey’s schools, which were getting a raw deal having to pay inner London costs with outer London funding. In April, as a result of the campaign, Haringey’s schools have received an extra £7.3 million. And, after a four year campaign, a safer W7 bus stop has finally been installed in Muswell Hill.

But as those campaigns draw to a close, others have been started. The Haringey Lib Dems and I are currently fighting hard to protect local rail services and to save our local sorting offices and mail collection services. We’ve also launched a campaign for fairer health funding for Haringey’s health services.

We are still fighting against proposals for a huge waste facility in Pinkham Way and for Labour Haringey to rectify bin collections. Most urgently we are campaigning for Labour Haringey to help our local shops by suspending parking charges in our high streets for the Christmas period. This comes on top of day to day MP duties – including my hard working office staff dealing with around 17,500 pieces of casework this year!

My ‘other job’ in Government changed in September, when I moved from the Home Office to the Department of International Development. I really enjoyed my time working on equalities and criminal information – launching the equal marriage consultation early this year and seeing private wheel clamping banned are particular highlights. But the move to DFID has fulfilled a lifelong ambition, and I’ve already been on inspirational trips to places like South Sudan to launch textbooks funded by UK Aid.

My party – the Liberal Democrats – have been pushing our agenda in Government at home, and have also been able to implement many of our policies this year. In April, we raised the tax threshold to £9,000 – meaning two million low earners have been lifted out of paying tax, and twenty one million have received a tax cut of over £500. We’ve balanced this by ensuring the rich pay their fair share.

Throughout the year, Lib Dem’s pupil premium policy has rolled out, giving schools extra money to help the most disadvantaged pupils – Haringey got an extra £8.8 million (that’s on top of the £7.3 million mentioned earlier)! The Coalition Government also funded a Council Tax freeze – which Haringey Labour tried to take the credit for.

And that reminds me – unfortunately some things haven’t changed for the better this year. As there have been no local elections, Labour are still running Haringey Council. This year, we’ve been treated to botched bin collections, housing scandals and had our Council Tax money wasted – again.

But this has only strengthened my resolve! Next year I will be campaigning harder than ever in the run up to the 2014 elections, where I hope to see the Haringey Lib Dems take control of the Council and make some positive changes to Haringey.

All in all, it has been an emotional, tiring, fun and wonderful year. All that remains is for me to wish everyone a happy festive holiday, and all the best for 2013!

Here’s a copy of the email I sent out to all Liberal Democrat Members today…

It’s been an amazing day for equality today as the Coalition Government announced it will introduce legislation to open marriage up to same-sex couples.

I am so proud of our Party because – don’t let anyone fool you – it’s because of Liberal Democrats that this is happening.

It all started two years ago when LGBT+ Lib Dems and Conference broke new ground. In September 2010, Liberal Democrat members voted to support equal marriage and end the separation between same-sex and opposite-sex couples. I took that vote to heart, saw an opportunity, telephoned Nick to say that I was going to go for equal marriage in my role as Equalities Minister at the Home Office. Nick gave me his support and his blessing – and quite frankly – at sticky moments during its passage his full-on powerful interventions when and as needed.

We’re two years on and it has been a hard battle. As Equalities Minister I was in charge of putting together the consultation on equal marriage. I met with LGBT groups, campaigners, lawyers, faith groups and many others. As we all know, marriage is an ancient institution, often tinkered with, but I had no idea how confusing the patchwork of legislation that governs it was. At one point the naysayers were making ominous noises about how it would lead to disestablishment of the Church if I pushed ahead with this!

Now you all know me better than these people did. It just made me more determined to show we could achieve this without the world as we know it ending. When we launched the consultation the Government was deluged by so many anti-equality voices trying to stop me (and recently Jo Swinson who took over from me in the reshuffle) pushing for this in government.

These voices were heard not least on the backbenches of our Coalition partners by those who still get somewhat hot under the collar when you talk about a modern, diverse and open Britain! Still – with Liberal Democrats firmly behind this policy, David Cameron has the votes necessary to defy them.

It became clear during the consultation that many same sex couples wanted to get married and wanted to do so in a full religious ceremony. And there were many religious organisations who wanted the freedom to conduct same-sex marriages. With Nick’s help we delivered this victory for religious freedom, at the same time protecting the rights of those religions who do not want to conduct such services.

It’s been a proud day for me and you should feel proud too. Without us – this would never have happened!