LABOUR MP Conor McGinn has said the LGBT community in Northern Ireland have been let down after ministers rejected a Westminster amendment on Northern Ireland equal marriage.
The British government have refused to legislate for same sex marriage in Northern Ireland citing the need for a devolved administration, which has not functioned since January 2017.
Mr McGinn had tabled an amendment to extend the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths Bill to Northern Ireland, however ministers refused to extend its remit.
Mr McGinn said this was an "insult to the LGBT community in Northern Ireland".
"This was an opportunity for the Government to show it wanted to end the discrimination faced every day by LGBT couples in Northern Ireland, but their decision flies in the face of their pledged commitment to equality.
"My amendment would merely have laid the ground for a Government report on how the law should be changed, but Ministers could not even accept this.
"It is my strong preference that measures to legalise same sex marriage in Northern Ireland start and finish in a fully functioning devolved assembly in Stormont.
“But with no Executive in place and no realistic prospect of a change in the law coming from Northern Ireland, it is incumbent on politicians at Westminster to act to stand up for LGBT rights," he added.
