The government may be forced to explain its plans for gay marriage in the House of Commons today if an urgent question is granted. Chief among the questions from backbenchers will be the consequences for religious institutions that continue to oppose the idea and do not want to conduct such ceremonies.
There are some Tory MPs who are viscerally opposed to the idea of gay marriage in any form, but others are wavering and need reassurance that they will not vote for something which leads to the situation where a vicar is forced as a result of a European Court judgement to conduct a same sex marriage against their will. Cameron was at great pains to stress on Friday that no-one would be forced to conduct ceremonies they disagree with, but the question is whether he has the legal advice to back this confidence up. Today his spokesman said:
‘We do not publish legal advice.
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