Conscience

Sorry to harp on about the two gay bills but just about everyone else in the blogosphere is and it is really the talking political point of this week

Next week we have the second conscience vote in two weeks. Some Labour MP's who did not vote for the Civil Unions Bill are coming under fire from people such as Chris Carter. Carter thinks all Labour MP's should vote for the bill (and probably the Relationships ( Statutory References ) Bill as well ) as it was a party pledge.

If that were so, and it was a pledge, why then are both bills a conscience vote? Could it be because the Labour caucus are split on the issue and some - including cabinet ministers - don't like the bill. Could it be that if some cabinet ministers didn’t vote for the bill they would end up like Tariana Turia - pressured to vote on something they don`t want to.

The last thing Helen Clark wants is a Cabinet reshuffle. Although David Benson-Pope is responsible for the bill, could it be that Chris Carter or Helen Clark were "running" this bill in the Cabinet room, along with Tim Barnett outside cabinet? There are usually four to six ministers in Cabinet who are the crucial decision makers. Could it be that in this case among them are Helen Clark, David Benson Pope and Chris Carter? What say does John Tamihere and Paul Swain? None, as their views are against party pledges. I'm, not commenting on the rights or wrongs of civil unions - more on political process. Could a hijack from gay MP's be why some MP's on both sides of the house are not willing to vote for this bill?

Finally, could someone tell me what extra legal rights (as opposed to recognition) couples in a civil union get, over other couples, if both bills pass? And I don’t mean social recognition or registration rights.