Civil partnerships may be abolished

CIVIL partnerships – available only to gay couples – could be abolished rather than being extended to heterosexuals.

The ceremonies were introduced in 2005 but there has been a massive slump in demand for them since same-sex marriages were legalised in 2014.

The inequality that means heterosexual couples cannot enter into civil partnerships is due to be challenged at the Supreme Court today when Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan demand the right to formalise their relationship without the ‘patriarchal baggage’ of marriage.

But it has emerged that women and equalities minister Penny Mordaunt has commissioned research to find out if demand for them is so low the ‘Government should consider abolishing or phasing out civil partnerships entirely’, The Sunday Times reported.