Government rejects Royal Marriages and Succession Bill despite supporting principle

2.46.00pm GMT Fri 27th Mar 2009

Government reject Evan Harris’s bill to end discrimination against women and Catholics in the line of succession to the throne

Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford, West and Abingdon, proposed a Royal Marriages and Succession to the Crown (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill. The Bill, said Evan, would end "the outrageous discrimination in our constitution against Roman Catholics and the equally unfair treatment of women." He said he came to this, "not from a religious perspective but one of recognising that whatever someone's religious views - or their views of the royal family - our constitution should not be based on unjustified discrimination."

Evan acknowledged the support he had received for his proposals and the members of the House of Commons and Lords who had attempted to introduce similar bills in the past.

He also challenged some commonly repeated objections to his proposal, dismissing as "wild conspiracy" the idea that "loyalty to the Vatican and the Holy See" would "threaten the nature of this country". Dr Harris noted the overwhelming public support for his proposals - 81% supporting the right of a monarch to marry a Catholic, and 89% supporting the rightful succession of daughters. He attacked the Government for not supporting the bill, despite admitting that they "supported the principle behind it and the contents of it".

David Howarth, Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary, spoke in support of the Bill. He noted that, "if there is a lesson of history to be learned from the monarchs that we have had in recent centuries, it is that, on average, the public seem to be served much better by our queens than by our kings." He also ridiculed the suggestion that Republicans within the Commonwealth could use the Bill to further their aims.

Alan Reid also backed the Bill. He said that the Bill would remove the one remaining part of the anti-Catholic legislation of the 17th century still in force.

The Government blocked the Bill. Justice Secretary Jack Straw admitted that Evan's Bill had given the issue a higher profile. Talks with Buckingham Palace on the issue had begun and would continue, he said, and Gordon Brown would ask the opinions of Commonwealth leaders at a summit in November. But he said he did not believe a private members bill was the appropriate vehicle for the changes proposed, and refused to give the House a precise timetable for action.