Nigel Farage says it was ‘wrong’ to introduce marriage equality: ‘I didn’t support it’
"I thought it was wrong to introduce it to the public without even putting it in a manifesto"
Nigel Farage has spoken out about marriage equality, saying “it was wrong to introduce it.”
The Reform UK leader reportedly made the remarks while speaking on an LBC phone in show earlier this week.
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 made marriage equality legal in England and Wales after receiving Royal Assent on 17 July 2013.
The first weddings under the new law took place on 29 March 2014.
“I thought the work that was done was wrong” – Nigel Farage
“It is a settled issue,” said Farage (as per The London Economic). “I didn’t support it. I thought it was wrong to introduce it to the public without even putting it in a manifesto.
“I was very surprised that [former Conservative leader] David Cameron did that. I thought the civil partnership arrangement that we had was actually working equitably and fairly.
“So I thought the work that was done was wrong, but look, we have moved on.”
Elsewhere on the show, Farage said that cabinet ministers should not be politicians. “I think the way we run our country is ridiculous,” he said. “We put cabinet ministers in charge of departments, over which they have absolutely zero knowledge.
“They’ll often last in that job for 12-18 months, I mean barely time to get their feet under the table, and understand the brief, but we’re stuck in this mindset that the cabinet must all be politicians in the House of Commons. Why? It’s nonsense.”
Clacton MP Farage was previously leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2016, he founded the Brexit Party, now Reform, in 2018. He was also a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in 2020.
For a re-evaluation of Farage’s LGBTQ-related public statements, click here.