Viva Espana!

It didn't take long for the new Pope to bare his fangs. The Vatican has condemned the Spanish Parliament for voting to legalise gay marriage. They have also urged Spanish Catholics who are public servants to refuse to implement the new law, which comes close to advocating civil disobedience.

The Spanish Socialist Party haven't pussyfooted around like our Labour Party and created a 'same but different' Civil Partnership ceremony. They've said that the institution of marriage will be the same and with the same benefits whether the couple are of opposite sexes or the same sex. And while they were at it, they included the right to adopt children.

Apparently, the Spanish Prime Minister, José Zapatero, wishes to create a secular State in Spain. This means that religious doctrines will not be enshrined in the laws of the country. It does not represent, as some try to suggest, an attack on religion, since people still have freedom of religious belief but are no longer able to impose those beliefs on, or proscribe the behaviour of, those who do not share them.

This Zapatero sounds a good chap. When Blair retires to a life of lucrative overseas lecture tours, let's kick Gordon Brown into touch and see if we can arrange a transfer deal with the Spanish to get Zapatero as leader of the Labour Party. After all, we've let them have Beckham so they must owe as one.