Tory Councillor Laura Powell calls for reintroduction of weddings
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A CONSERVATIVE councillor in Moray has called for the introduction of small-scale weddings before lockdown ends.
Laura Powell, who represents the Keith and Cullen ward on Moray Council, has written to the Scottish Government asking them to reconsider their position on weddings.
Ms Powell, who was due to get married to her fiancé on May 20, is calling for small services to resume.
Ms Powell, elected in a by-election last year, called the ceremonies a "basic human right".
She said: "I have written to Nicola Sturgeon on behalf of the many people who are unable to get married due to there not being considered a pressing social need to carry out weddings during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am certainly not arguing for the resumption of traditional weddings with dozens or more of guests.
“But a very basic wedding with the happy couple, two witnesses and the registrar, observing social distancing, does not seem too much to ask and I would like to see the right to get married reinstated.
“It is important that people should be given the opportunity to marry. Some people choose to marry when the death of one party is imminent and I find it tragic that people are being denied that basic human right.
“My fiancé and I are in our sixties so time is not on our side. A lot of younger couples will be quite happy to postpone their big weddings until 2021, but for those of us who are content to have a very simple and safe ceremony it would be a real blessing to be able to go ahead.”
Laura Powell has been backed by conservative list MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Jamie Halcro Johnston.
He added: "There are so many couples across Scotland who will have had to postpone weddings, some of which will have taken months, or even years, of planning.
"For many, to delay their wedding will be upsetting. For others, frustrating. But for some, there is an urgency because of age or ill health, and waiting until the current health crisis passes just isn’t an option.
"In these cases, where it can be done safely for all involved, it does not seem unreasonable to look at granting permission to hold a wedding with only a handful of people present and adhering to suitable level of precautions.
"I very much hope the First Minister will give a sympathetic hearing to Laura and look at ways of ensuring couples can make their marriage vows and begin their married lives together."
