Ed Miliband is also finally coming around.

OIn Twitter yesterday he said:

@JaeKay Got asked abt this today &made clear I support principle of gay marriage. Need to consult on how to implement.

This is not an unreasonable position.

The ‘problem’ as such with gay marriage might be technical and legal rather than than simply procedural.

In other words, how does the government allow the flexibility for some Churches to sanction gay marriage but others not – while not falling foul of equality laws?

Labour MP Kerry McCarthy wrote about this in January:

Civil partnerships are not the same as marriage. And we won’t have true equality until they are. I’ve tried looking into this, and the explanation I got as to why the UK hasn’t gone down the path of other countries who have legalised gay marriage was that it’s more difficult in the UK because whereas in those countries you can only be married in a civil ceremony and can then choose to go on and have a religious service should you want one, in the UK you can be married in church without the civil element. Which I took to mean that you couldn’t have gay marriage in this country without persuading the Church of England, Catholic church, etc, to accept it.

So it looks like Ed Miliband is also coming around to gay marriage, it’s just a matter of ensuring how it would be implemented and how the law could work. Perhaps. Nevertheless, it’s an encouraging sign.

I’ll try and find out more directly from the campaign next week.

Via @earwicga – who has a report on her blog about an event with Ed Miliband locally.

As Luke Skywalker would say, ‘almost there…’

Labour candidate David Miliband’s campaign got in touch just a few minutes ago to say that he has just written about his support for gay marriage.

He says:

During recent hustings and conversations with people around the country and on Twitter and Facebook, the issue of gay marriage has been raised on several occasions.

See I told you all this online campaigning works.

He adds:

We equalised the age of consent, scrapped the homophobic Section 28 and created civil partnerships. Because of our legislation some 33,956 civil partnerships have been registered across the country – over 500 in British Embassies abroad.

But it is an anomaly that gay couples – although they can call each other husband or wife – can’t say they are married. Canada and Argentina have shown the way forward.That’s why I support calls to change the definition of marriage to include exclusive relationships between couples, regardless of sex. This will mean gay couples will be able to describe themselves as married.

This does not force change in religious practice. I support the Labour amendment to the Equalities Act which made provision for religious communities to officiate civil partnerships but only if they felt appropriate. Under a new definition of marriage, the situation should to be the same. We should not force churches, mosques and synagogues to officiate over gay marriages but equally we shouldn’t stop those who want to.

Gay marriage is the logical next step in our mission for equality, but is just one part of our approach. Homophobia remains too common, including in schools. I want to tackle prejudices in law and in practice so we are always standing up for equal rights.

I welcome David Miliband’s support on this issue.

Your mission lefties, should you choose to accept it, is to now ask Ed Miliband (wherever you see him) why he’s the only Labour candidate not to support gay marriage.

The full £20bn cost of renewing the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent must be paid for by the Ministry of Defence, George Osborne has said.

Traditionally, the Treasury has always found the money for the submarines.

The chancellor’s comments come as Defence Secretary Liam Fox warned it would be “very difficult” to maintain other MoD projects if more than half its budget went on funding Trident.

BBC’s Jonathan Beale said Mr Osborne risked igniting a political row.

The remarks come as the MoD is having to contemplate cuts in its budget of between 10% and 20%.

…more at the BBC

In a press release issued by the Home Office yesterday, Theresa May said:

The benefits promised by the 24 hour drinking ‘café culture’ have failed to materialise and in its place we have seen an increase in the number of alcohol related incidents and drink-fuelled crime and disorder.

We know that the majority of pubs and bars are well run business but the government believes that the system needs to be rebalanced in favour of the local communities they serve with tougher action taken to crack down on the small number of premises who cause problems.

The government wants to “overhaul” the Licensing Act on this basis, and wants to introduce a series of measures outlined here.

This includes “taking tough action against underage drinking”, “charging a fee for late-night licences” and “increasing licence fees” so councils can cover costs linked to police enforcement.

But does the Home Secretary’s original claim that there has been an “increase in the number of alcohol related incidents” stand up?

The Home Office reluctantly confirmed to FullFact.org that it holds no data covering all alcohol-related crime in England and Wales.

So where does the claim come from? The fact-checking org reports:

When pushed, the Home Office identified their recent report ‘Crime in England and Wales 2009/10’ as the source of Ms May’s claim. Using British Crime Survey data, this report does indeed calculate the number of violent incidents attributed to offenders perceived to have been under the influence of alcohol.

However, contrary to the Home Secretary’s claim, the number of alcohol related incidents recorded in this study has actually fallen since November 2005.

So if the numbers have actually fallen, how does Theresa May’s claim stand up?

The Home Office tells FullFact the quote, “should have referred to the proportion of crimes, rather than the number.”

In other words – it’s just spin.