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A protester at a demonstration for equal rights for gay couples in Trafalgar Square on March 24, 2013/AFP

World

British PM survives gay marriage vote

A protester at a demonstration for equal rights for gay couples in Trafalgar Square on March 24, 2013/AFP

A protester at a demonstration for equal rights for gay couples in Trafalgar Square on March 24, 2013/AFP

LONDON,May 21 – British Prime Minister David Cameron headed off another Conservative rebellion after the opposition Labour Party helped him see off a “wrecking amendment” which had threatened his gay marriage bill.

Tory MP Tim Loughton had proposed the amendment saying that if gay couples were allowed to marry, then heterosexual couples should also be able to have civil partnerships.

But lawmakers in the lower House of Commons rejected the motion by 375 votes to 70.

Instead they backed an alternative amendment tabled by Labour calling for an immediate consultation on extending civil partnerships to heterosexual couples. That passed by 391 votes to 57.

Loughton opposes same-sex marriage, and the Conservative-led government had called his proposal a “wrecking amendment”. They had argued it would delay the passing of the gay marriage bill by up to two years and cost £4 billion ($6 billion, 4.7 billion euros) in pension changes.

Even if it was defeated however, some 56 Tory MPs backed his amendment.

On Sunday, Labour was reported to be considering backing the Tory the rebels to deliver a blow to Cameron’s authority.

But earlier Monday, the party said it would instead back the government so that the bill, which it supports, would not be held up.

Labour leader Ed Miliband nevertheless made the most of the Conservative leader’s discomfort.

Cameron’s “inability to control his party must not be allowed to wreck the Equal Marriage Bill”, he tweeted. “Labour’s commitment unwavering,” he added.

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In February, when it was last debated, the bill was approved by a comfortable 225-vote majority despite the opposition of almost half of Conservative lawmakers.

Monday’s deal, after five hours of fractious debate, allows the bill to proceed to the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords, where it is expected to face stiff opposition.

Lawmakers are allowed a free vote on gay marriage, meaning they are not required to follow party directions because it is considered an issue of conscience.

The vote came at a time when Cameron was already under pressure from a large section of his fractious centre-right party over his stance on a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.

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