Ministerial aide could defy whip on gay marriage vote

Downing Street is very keen to emphasise that Tory MPs who vote against the second reading of the gay marriage bill tomorrow are not ‘rebels’. This is a free vote, and MPs can vote with their conscience. But this ignores the fact that there will be a rebellion tomorrow: not on the second reading, but on the programme motion.

I understand that at least one ministerial aide is likely to rebel against the three-line whip on this motion, which sets out how the Bill will proceed through the Commons. Other MPs who oppose the bill are also expected to defy the whip, although not in the same numbers as will vote against second reading, and without any greater effect as Labour is also whipping its MPs to support the motion. I’ve spoken to David Burrowes, PPS to Owen Paterson, who says he is unlikely to support it:

‘The precedent for this is the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, which was split between committee and committee of the whole house.