Cllr Vince Maple who has been campaigning for civil partnership equality for many years, reacts to the government’s announcement that they will be equalising civil partnerships to include different-sex couples.

Cllr Vince Maple, Councillor for Chatham Central and Leader of the Medway Labour Group said, “I’m very pleased to hear this welcome announcement from the government as we move ever closer to the final piece of this particular equality puzzle. When this finally is put in place it means all couples in England & Wales will have access to both marriage and civil partnership. The only thing missing from the government announcement is a timetable for introduction – I hope we see this as soon as possible. Put simply the government needs to legislate so couples can celebrate!”