Just catching up on posting this. Attend a Pagan and Heathen Symposium last weekend and one of the topics was the the long ongoing law reform consultation. The public consultation ended back in January with recommendations being drawn up towards the end of the year. From there the government can take what it wants and put changes to Parliament.
The main driving point is that while England and Wales has civil weddings, religious ones have certain requirements that exclude pagans, a number of other large religions and in some cases even certain Christian churches (e.g. one that my wife goes to). To that end there is an urge to remove the requirement for a religious marriage to be at a ‘place of worship’ and instead be tied to a celebrant.
The above is a little simplified but gives the idea of the huge change that opens up.
Like I say, this could still be a few years away from becoming law if acted upon. While the constant petitions I see being raised about making hand fasting legal in England have really little chance of doing anything (the government won’t act on a random person’s petition), it still provides a nice way to be vocal about our needs.