Sir John Major becomes latest senior Tory to endorse gay marriage

By Tim Montgomerie
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Yesterday saw the launch of the Tory-led Freedom to Marry campaign - a joint effort to advance the cause of gay equality; broaden the institution of marriage and protect religious liberty. F2M's core principles are listed here.

Today former Prime Minister Sir John Major becomes the latest senior Tory to endorse equal marriage. He issued this statement through Freedom to Marry:

"The Prime Minister's instinct to support equal marriage is a courageous and genuine attempt to offer security and comfort to people who - at present - may be together, yet feel apart.

I fully understand that there are many who will find this difficult to accept, as will the Churches.  But the Prime Minister has made it clear that the Churches will be free to make their own decisions upon whether to conduct such marriages - and that is entirely the right approach.

We live in the 21st Century and must move on: every couple should have the opportunity and the right to formalise their relationship."

> Bruce Anderson on ConHome today: "If anyone told David Cameron that a centuries-old coral reef was about to be destroyed, the PM would rush into action. Yet institutions are the social equivalent of coral reefs, and the PM shows little interest in preserving them. Who would have dreamed that a Tory-led government would propose the effective abolition of the House of Lords, plus a change in the order of succession to the Throne, plus a radical redefinition of the nature of marriage?" Read the whole piece.