A recent poll has revealed widespread support across Britain for the idea that civil partnership should be available to all couples.

According to the Equal Civil Partnership Campaign, 57% of respondents to the Populus poll supported the idea that civil partnerships should be open to both mixed-sex and same-sex couples, compared to only 20% who said they should be scrapped altogether.

Currently, same-sex couples have the option of either a civil partnership or marriage, while mixed-sex couples can only marry. Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal in England ruled that this position was unsustainable in the long-term.

“This survey adds to the mound of evidence demonstrating that giving every couple the option of getting a civil partnership would be the popular and fair thing to do,” commented Matt Hawkins, Campaign Manager for the Equal Civil Partnerships Campaign. “Over 76,000 people have already signed a petition calling on the Government to extend civil partnerships, MPs from all parties support our cause, and countries such as France, Sweden, and New Zealand and regions of the British Isles like the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, and Isle of Man have already shown that mixed-sex civil partnerships are easy to introduce and warmly welcomed.”

“The spread of mixed-sex civil partnerships across the world has happened in recognition of the fact that nearly all couples want some kind of financial and legal security and that marriage is just not for everyone,” he added. “It’s an acknowledgment of choice and diversity. Our message to political parties about to fight it out in this June’s general election is that they have everything to win and nothing to lose by pledging to make civil partnerships a real option for mixed-sex couples in Britain.”

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