by Tony Rucinski, Coalition for Marriage
Eight days from today the Government closes its consultation on how a marriage is made in England and Wales, and two of its proposals would strip the safeguards out of the ceremony itself.
The first is that in religious and non-religious belief ceremonies, consent could be expressed “through actions as well as words”. Across the consultation and the three assessments published with it – four documents in all – the word “audible” does not appear once. The second is that weddings could be held in private homes. On that, ministers write the danger down themselves – a private home “may not always be a neutral environment and may not offer the same visibility as a public or commercial venue. This could make it harder to identify forced, predatory, sham marriages or wider abuse.”
Taken together, the proposals would allow for secret marriages in private homes, where nobody but close family attend, and a bride never even has to say a word. All this is overseen by an officiant who can be from the community, and the entire thing gets rubber-stamped by the state.
What could go wrong?