Gillian White
2005-01-15 01:41:14 UTC
From BBC News : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4175509.stm
A Labour peer has withdrawn proposals to give female members of the Royal
Family the same rights as males. The legislation would have ended the right
of male heirs with older sisters to succeed to the Crown. It would also have
torn up ancient legislation banning heirs to the throne marrying Roman
Catholics.
But the government refused to back Lord Dubs' Succession to the Crown Bill,
saying it was too complex and raised too many constitutional issues. The
Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, agreed the 1701 Act of Settlement, which
governs the succession, was discriminatory but added that "for all practical
purposes its effects are limited". The changes proposed by Lord Dubs were a
"complex and controversial undertaking raising major constitutional issues",
he said.
Lord Falconer said there were 22 members of the Royal Family in the line of
succession after the Prince of Wales - all of who were eligible to succeed
and had been unaffected by the act. "It is not a simple matter that can be
tinkered with lightly. While we wish to remove all forms of
discrimination... this isn't the proper form," he added. He did not rule out
change in the future but said if Lord Dubs' private member's bill was passed
by peers, he would urge MPs to oppose it in the Commons.
Lord Dubs agreed to withdraw his bill after its second reading in the House
of Lords, but urged the government to think again at a later stage. "We
cannot forever say we don't want to change things because it is too
difficult," he told peers. During the debate, the Labour peer and former
minister said: "The monarchy should symbolise the values of this country.
"What we don't want is a situation where the values of the country have
moved on and the monarchy is centuries behind the times. "We are surely all
opposed to discrimination on the grounds of gender and we are surely also
opposed to discrimination against Catholics."
But opponents of the bill, including Tory Lord Campbell of Alloway and the
Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, said it would separate
the state from both the Church of England and the Christian faith. Such a
"secular" state would be markedly "less tolerant", Rt Rev Scott-Joynt
argued.
A Labour peer has withdrawn proposals to give female members of the Royal
Family the same rights as males. The legislation would have ended the right
of male heirs with older sisters to succeed to the Crown. It would also have
torn up ancient legislation banning heirs to the throne marrying Roman
Catholics.
But the government refused to back Lord Dubs' Succession to the Crown Bill,
saying it was too complex and raised too many constitutional issues. The
Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, agreed the 1701 Act of Settlement, which
governs the succession, was discriminatory but added that "for all practical
purposes its effects are limited". The changes proposed by Lord Dubs were a
"complex and controversial undertaking raising major constitutional issues",
he said.
Lord Falconer said there were 22 members of the Royal Family in the line of
succession after the Prince of Wales - all of who were eligible to succeed
and had been unaffected by the act. "It is not a simple matter that can be
tinkered with lightly. While we wish to remove all forms of
discrimination... this isn't the proper form," he added. He did not rule out
change in the future but said if Lord Dubs' private member's bill was passed
by peers, he would urge MPs to oppose it in the Commons.
Lord Dubs agreed to withdraw his bill after its second reading in the House
of Lords, but urged the government to think again at a later stage. "We
cannot forever say we don't want to change things because it is too
difficult," he told peers. During the debate, the Labour peer and former
minister said: "The monarchy should symbolise the values of this country.
"What we don't want is a situation where the values of the country have
moved on and the monarchy is centuries behind the times. "We are surely all
opposed to discrimination on the grounds of gender and we are surely also
opposed to discrimination against Catholics."
But opponents of the bill, including Tory Lord Campbell of Alloway and the
Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, said it would separate
the state from both the Church of England and the Christian faith. Such a
"secular" state would be markedly "less tolerant", Rt Rev Scott-Joynt
argued.