Ed Miliband has blown it on gay marriage

It was disappointing when, in his Liberal Conspiracy interview a fortnight ago, Ed Miliband passed up the opportunity to give clear support for marriage equality.

But it is a pretty sad indictment of his candidacy that, when offered the chance to revisit his  earlier position, and come out firmly, if belatedly, in support of gay marriage, in an interview published today in Labour Uncut, he once again failed to do so.  Here is the relevant portion of the interview:

Q. (from Jae): Following Ed Balls and Diane Abbott announcing their support for marriage equality, will he retract his comments about there not being enough people calling for it and come out in support of LGBT equality?

A. My position on this is pretty simple, which is that we did a consultation in the run up to the manifesto, and it wasn’t raised with me as an issue. But obviously if it’s something that is felt to be an important issue, I understand absolutely the reasons for that, then it’s something we should definitely look at. And I’m very happy to say that and I completely understand and sympathise with the wish for equality in this area.

Q. So does it matter how many people ask for it?

A. It’s not about how many people but I think if it’s felt to be an issue, as I say it hasn’t been raised with me, but I completely understand the reasons for it, it’s something that we should look at. I think if we were in government we should have a consultation on it, I believe the government is having a consultation on it. I’m very happy for that to happen.

So Ed, who represents himself as a believer in equality, 'understands' the case for gay marriage, yet shies away from committing to it.  His deliberate refusal (for that is what it is, given that he has now been asked about this twice) to be drawn on gay marriage is in stark contrast with the unequivocal endorsements of equality from the other runners (bar his brother).

Contrast Miliband's words with this statement from Ed Balls' campaign team:

[Balls] had an uncle, the youngest of 7 kids, who eventually came out to the family, after many years, very difficult for him.

He was in a long term relationship, but died of cancer a few years ago, before civil partnerships were introduced. (The family is still in touch with his partner).


The uncle was a very religious man, a Christian, and Ed says it was really sad that he didn’t get to have a civil partnership but also, why should he have been denied the chance to have a proper marriage too, especially given his religious faith?


So it’s something he feels quite strongly about on a personal level.

Or this, from Diane Abbott:

I have always supported gay marriage and made that case when civil partnerships were first discussed. Despite what may now be reported, it wasn’t New Labour that first proposed civil partnerships but Ken Livingstone in his first administration. I supported it then, way before New Labour had the bravery to put this issue into legislation.

Or Andy Burnham's impassioned defence:

Gay marriage epitomises my approach - complete equality because civil partnerships can be seen as second-class arrangements.  Marriage is a life-long commitment by two people to each other, which is much more important than any judgement about their sexuality.

As I said in my previous post on the subject, for anyone with egalitarian sympathies, support for gay marriage should be an absolute no-brainer - there simply are no good, secular reasons not to embrace it.

Ed Miliband has now had two opportunities to do so, and blown it.  This is not a positive indication of the instincts and convictions of a man who seeks to lead a political party of the left.