David Blunkett: Nicky Morgan should be forgiven for opposing gay marriage
Education Secretary and Equalities Minister Nicky Morgan voted against same-sex marriage
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Your support makes all the difference.David Blunkett, Labour’s former Home Secretary, has said Nicky Morgan should be “forgiven” for changing her mind and coming out in support of gay marriage.
Ms Morgan, the Education Secretary and Equalities minister who voted against same sex marriage in Parliament, caused controversy last week when she said she would support it now.
She was heckled during her speech by Ben Bradshaw, a former Labour Culture Secretary.
But Mr Blunkett argued today that Ms Morgan should be praised for her U-turn.
He told the Pink News website: “We all have the duty to change our minds when we’re persuaded – I’m glad she did. I historically have been persuaded of things. I’ve never been bamboozled or badgered or hectored into changing my mind, but I’ve been persuaded.[Mr Bradshaw] should have said ‘you voted against it but are now forgiven’.”
The former Home Secretary praised the Government for introducing gay marriage, saying that “on this part of the social agenda, the Coalition have done a good job. It’s revealed incredible fissures particularly within the Tory party which is a shame… but nevertheless it has continued the progress of social reform.”
But Mr Blunkett, who is standing down at next May’s general election after 27 years as an MP, attacked the Conservatives’ plans to scrap Labour’s Human Rights Act, which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into British law.
He said: “It would be a mistake to do that and if they invented a Bill of Rights instead, they would create a whole new can of worms which would have to be worked through in the courts and would probably take us back several decades.”
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