proponents of same-sex marriage. The government was so anxious not to Reviews antagonise faith communities that the default setting on the bill was to con- cede as much as possible to them. Same Sex Marriage Previous legislation, also introduced by Lynne, had permitted civil partner- Lynne Featherstone, Equal Ever After: The Fight for Same Sex Marriage ships to take place in religious prem- – and How I Made it Happen (Biteback Publishing, 2016) ises when the religious organisation had freely decided that it wished to do so. Review by Baroness Liz Barker It was assumed that this would suffice and that no religion would want to con- ooks written by former minis- and that is to our great credit. , duct same-sex marriages; and the Tories ters shortly after they leave office a charity founded to campaign for LGB had agreed to same-sex marriage on the Bare often dissatisfying. The prox- equality, actively opposed same-sex basis that it would go nowhere near the imity of recent events and internal party marriage until the Labour Party reluc- churches. However, liberal Jews, Unitar- score-settling often render them short on tantly changed its stance. Try as they do ians and Quakers, argued strongly that detail, or downright tedious. This is an to hide it, that fact stands. marriage is different from civil part- exception, on both counts. Same-sex marriage was not in the nership and that for them inclusion of The subtitle tells you that this is coalition agreement yet, remarkably, same-sex marriage would be an accept- Lynne’s documentation of her personal Lynne secured government support and able profession of their faith. When the crusade to get this Liberal Democrat time. Why? The answer lies not in this government’s legal advisers made it clear policy through the coalition government book but in the Liberal Democrat review that the consultation on same-sex mar- in the Commons. It is not a detailed of the 2015 election. From 2010 we had riage must include such a permissive pro- explanation of the campaign for LGBT no money to do polls. The Tories did and vision, the Tories nearly pulled the plug equality, led for decades by Liberals and must have known that supporting same- on the whole thing. Liberal Democrats, which moved social sex marriage would not only continue They didn’t because Lynne man- and electoral opinion to the point where to detoxify their brand but help them aged to convince that reli- Tories would agree to do the right thing. win their target seats – ours. When the gious organisations are largely exempt It is not even a full account of the Liberal full and objective history of the coali- from obligations under the Equality Act. Democrat campaign for same-sex mar- tion government is written it will show They could not be compelled to conduct riage. That remains a PhD thesis in the in detail how strategists like Cameron same-sex marriages against their belief. making. This is a snapshot of one Liberal and Osborne used us as human shields to Moreover the legislation which permit- Democrat minister’s time in govern- position the Tories as social liberals. In ted civil partnerships in religious prem- ment, produced with alacrity in order stark contrast even Lynne Featherstone, ises was not the thin end of a wedge, to stop blatant attempts by the Tories to whose loyalty to is evident and no religious organisation had been steal the glory. throughout the book, cannot hide how forced into holding ceremonies of which The first question to be addressed is ineffectual and unstrategic the Office of it disapproved. the most obvious: why did Lynne choose the Deputy Prime Minister was. Tui- Lynne pays tribute to people within to make this her crusade? The answer tion fees, the AV referendum, bound- religious organisations who supported is intriguing. Early in the coalition the ary reviews … The list of profound same-sex marriage as far as they could. It Institute for Government put on an misjudgements which did serious dam- event for new ministers. At this event age to the party is depressingly long. Michael Heseltine advised them to find But to learn from this book that on our an issue on which they wanted to make strongest ground – social justice – the a difference, and to do so before the red deputy prime minister was skewered by boxes ground them down. Like any Lib- the then Archbishop of Canterbury, no eral Democrat she has loads of LGBT Machiavelli even by CofE standards, is friends whom she wanted to support, shocking. but she also realised that she was a Lib- The most interesting aspect of the eral Democrat minister with responsibil- book is the one which details the tor- ity for equalities and there might not be tuous negotiations with faith organi- many of those. So she seized the oppor- sations. Evangelical Christians, some tunity to do something big. members of the Anglican Church and Lynne was helped considerably by some Sikhs condemned the legalisa- Pink News acting as catalyst by ques- tion of same-sex marriage as an assault tioning party leaders during the 2010 on religious freedom. There were wild election about their commitment suggestions that churches would be to same-sex marriage. Nick Clegg taken to court if they refused to carry responded positively without hesita- out same-sex marriages. The for- tion. The Liberal Democrats were first mer Archbishop of Canterbury made to adopt this commitment as policy. We some particularly distasteful remarks did so in our open, democratic fashion about Christians being persecuted by

44 Journal of Liberal History 93 Winter 2016–17 Reviews was evident that once this legislation was Stonewall and Cameron have tried to be hard. Others may waiver, but Lib- passed, religious organisations would be airbrush us out of the picture. How- eral Democrats must not. When we need free to discuss this as a matter of theol- ever this legislation is as closely linked inspiration we can turn to this book, and ogy at their own pace. That is starting to to Lynne as the 1967 Abortion Act is to I hope that other former Liberal Demo- happen and it is a vindication of Lynne’s David Steel. Liberal Democrats have a crat former ministers will add to the approach, but one thing which the book rightful place at the forefront of social canon. does not capture is the extent to which change. It is a place which we keep by LGBT members of faith groups feel standing up for the legal rights of minor- Liz Barker became a Liberal Democrat life abandoned. ity groups and never letting up on peer in 1999. In 2015 she was appointed as the Lynne devotes a chapter to excerpts human rights. To do so, at a time when Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the volun- from her postbag. She omits the most liberalism is under constant attack, will tary sector and social enterprise. disgusting stuff so as not to dignify it, but, as an out parliamentarian who is on the receiving end of this I can con- firm that it is all true. Today, witnessing the outpouring of xenophobia after the Reform and reformers Brexit vote, one wonders whether hatred of LGBT people in the UK has dimin- Michael Thomas and Peter Urbach, Commemorating Reform and ished or whether it was simply in abey- ance for the duration of the coalition Reformers, Volume 1: The Reform Club’s Collection of Ceramic and until now. Other Objects Commemorating Reform and Those who Campaigned This book is on one level a campaign manual. A classic text which sets out for it (Reform Club, 2014) how issues emerge, campaigns arise and Review by William C. Lubenow government responds. In one chapter Lynne sets out the main lines of attack iberalism was a marked series of testimonial to those who had brought and the rebuttals she deployed. That is processes and procedures; its char- in and passed the Reform Act of 1832. It immensely valuable to the party which Lacter was instrumental rather than became the headquarters of those who urgently needs to recapture the messag- substantive. It was a matter of words, would wish to push electoral reform fur- ing skills which helped us build support rather than deeds, and there have been ther. Wandering through its rooms one prior to the coalition. If the failure of the many efforts to capture its essence in can see portraits and busts of those since Liberal Democrat 2015 general election myth and in material flesh. Images of the 1830s representing (save perhaps for campaign and the success of the Brexit Mr Gladstone as a woodsman created the bust of Winston Churchill which campaign has taught us anything it is the myth of the iconic statesman and adorns the Morning Room) the promot- that clear, accurately targeted messaging scholar who chose menial work for his ers of reform. is critical. recreation. The Reform Club itself is The club, by gift and purchase, has The book is short and inevitably there a physical monument to the mood and assembled a collection, which this cat- are some omissions. There is little about movement of reform. Founded by radi- alogue describes, in a celebration of the bill’s passage through the Lords. cals and Whigs in 1836, the club was a the reform movement. The collection The bill could have been hijacked in the Lords, as the civil partnership legisla- tion was in 2003. The fact that it made it safely through, despite opposition from the bishops and many leading Tories, was due to hard work by a small group of peers across the House who patiently talked to colleagues who had concerns and doubts. Some could not see the need for marriage because of the existence of civil partnerships, others worried that this form of marriage was not equiva- lent to heterosexual marriage. Success was due to the painstaking process of explaining that, whatever its flaws, this legislation would above all else enable LGBT people and their families to live with dignity and be celebrated as equals within their communities. The style of the book is crisp, witty and direct. It was produced quickly for an important reason, to ensure that Lib- eral Democrats get due credit for our work. Since the day the Act was passed,

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