Yesterday there was a Westminster Hall debate on marriage registration and certification introduced by Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con), the Second Church Estates Commissioner. In brief, she was arguing for
- the inclusion of mothers’ names on marriage certificates (on which Christina Rees (Neath) (Lab) has introduced a private Member’s bill scheduled for Second Reading on 22 January); and
- the adoption of the marriage schedule system used for marriage and civil partnership registration in Scotland and Northern Ireland (and very similar to that already used in England and Wales for civil partnerships), with a single electronic register instead of the current marriage register books.