A Catholic Labour MP has introduced a bill at Westminster that would lintroduce same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, saying that he is 'living the message of the gospel in this Holy Week', the Catholic Herald reported.

The move comes while Northern Ireland's governing assembly is suspended after its two main parties – the unionist DUP and the nationalist Sinn Fein – failed to reach an agreement to form a power-sharing government. The suspension means that the UK government is now temporarily again ruling the province directly, presenting MPs from mainland Britain the chance to overturn some its more conservative laws.

Northern Ireland has much more strict abortion laws than the rest of the UK, and is the only part of the British Isles not to have legalised same-sex marriage.

Now Conor McGinn, who was born in Northern Ireland but currently represents St Helens North in northern England, has introduced the bill, describing himself as a practising Catholic.

'I am a practising Catholic, now my parish priest would undoubtedly say that I probably need to practise a little bit more,' he joked.

'I have been asked about whether or not, given the position of the Church hierarchy, this conflicts with my own personal faith. Let me say this as gently and I hope as appropriately as possible: the God I know is one of love, compassion and understanding. In showing that to others, in standing up for the marginalised and those denied their rights, I believe I am living the message of the gospel in this Holy Week.'