Northern Ireland secretary becomes first cabinet member to publicly say he does not support same-sex marriage
Owen Paterson, the socially conservative Northern Ireland secretary, has become the first member of the cabinet to say publicly he does not support gay marriage.
In a sign of the fight David Cameron will face from the Tory right if he presses ahead with legalising gay marriage, Paterson told a gay constituent that he could not back the proposal.
"Having considered this matter carefully, I am afraid I have come to the decision not to support gay marriage," Paterson told his constituent Andrew Smith in a letter.
Paterson added in the letter, published on the PoliticsHome website: "However, the government is rightly committed to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and has already taken action to do so by allowing those religious premises that wish to carry out civil partnerships to do so, erasing historic convictions for consensual gay sex and putting pressure on other countries that violate the human rights of LGBT people.
"The prime minister has made clear that he supports equal civil marriage and the government is rightly consulting widely on this issue before making any changes to the current position. I am worried that this will be a disappointing response."
Smith told PoliticsHome: "It is bizarre that a cabinet minister can both praise his government's progress on LGBT equality in the same letter that he tells me he won't support my right to marriage equality. Logic eludes this man. He is clearly unsympathetic to the needs that LGBT youth in rural communities have for leaders who stand up for equality. I hope the constituents of North Shropshire prove to him how out of touch he is."
Downing Street is making clear that the prime minister is keen to legalise gay marriage before the election. A consultation has begun.
But Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, said recently that the proposals should be delayed to let the government focus on policies "that matter". Gerald Howarth, the defence minister, said after the Tories' poor performance in the local elections that the prime minister had no mandate for the policy.
