Gay marriage bill 'right thing to do', say Tory heavyweights in appeal to MPs

PM's three most senior lieutenants, George Osborne, William Hague and Theresa May - urge Tory MPs not to oppose bill
George Osborne, Theresa May and William Hague
George Osborne, Theresa May and William Hague have written a joint letter urging Tory backbenchers not to oppose the bill. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian Martin Argles/Guardian

George Osborne, William Hague and Theresa May have made a late appeal to Conservative MPs not to oppose gay marriage, insisting it "is the right thing to do at the right time".

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, David Cameron's three most senior lieutenants said "the question now is whether it is any longer acceptable to exclude people from marriage simply because they love someone of the same sex".

The chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary made their case as other Tory supporters of equal marriage made an eleventh-hour plea to fellow Conservative MPs to vote in favour of reform by invoking the record of Margaret Thatcher, who supported the legalisation of homosexuality in the 1960s.

Amid fears in No 10 that David Cameron may struggle to win the support of a majority of his MPs in a free vote in the Commons on Tuesday, reformers are pointing out that Thatcher set herself apart from Tory traditionalists who described the bill legalising homosexuality as a "dirty measure".

Downing Street knows that the marriage (same sex couples) bill will easily receive its second reading because an overwhelming number of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs will line up alongside Cameron loyalists to vote for it. But up to half of the Tory parliamentary party's 303 MPs may fail to support the bill by voting against it or abstaining in the second reading.

Scores of Tory MPs say they are facing intense pressure in their constituencies to vote against the measure. The strength of feeling in the party was highlighted on Sunday, when 20 current and former Tory constituency association chairmen delivered a letter to No 10 warning that the bill would inflict "significant damage" to the party in the runup to the next election.

The surprise intervention of the cabinet's heaviest hitters suggested the bill was in line with Conservative values and strengthened both marriage and religious freedom.


The ministers' letter added: "Our party also has a strong belief in religious freedom, a vital element of a free society. The bill ensures that no faith group will be forced to conduct same-sex marriages. The legal advice is clear that these protections for religious groups cannot be overturned by the courts.

"Religious freedom works both ways. Why should faith groups, such as the Quakers, that wish to conduct gay marriages be forbidden from doing so? This bill will enhance religious freedom, not restrict it."

In a final salvo, they said: "Attitudes towards gay people have changed. A substantial majority of the public now favour allowing same-sex couples to marry, and support has increased rapidly. This is the right thing to do at the right time."

Geoffrey Vero, the chairman of Michael Gove's Surrey Heath association, said the education secretary had told him he feared teachers could be vulnerable to a legal challenge if they declined to inform students about legalisation of equal marriage if the bill became law.

Downing Street, which had been drawing up plans for the prime minister to make a strong statement in favour of the measure, softened its tactics amid anger that the free vote has been qualified by government whips. While Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs are entitled to vote with their consciences in the second reading vote, which allows the bill to proceed to its next stage, they are subject to a three-line whip on the "programme motion" that sets the timetable for the bill. Any member of the government "payroll vote" – ministers and their parliamentary aides – who defy a three-line whip would have to resign.

The decision of the whips to impose a three-line whip means that David Burrowes, aide to Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin and a leading member of the no camp, is expected to abstain in the "programme motion" vote. Burrowes will vote against the second reading without jeopardising his position as parliamentary private secretary.


While the prime minister is struggling to control his backbenchers, there are signs that cabinet traditionalists are keen not to undermine him. Chris Grayling, the justice secretary who infuriated Cameron during the last general election campaign by saying that owners of bed and breakfasts in their homes should "have the right" to turn away homosexual couples, rallied to the prime minister's side.

In an article for the gay magazine Attitude, Grayling wrote: "Of course we need to protect the right of the individual to have a conscience and of religious institutions to follow their own path. But that does not mean that the state has to do the same. Its job is to recognise the commitment between a couple to spend the rest of their lives together, and not to judge who that couple are."

Iain Duncan Smith, the socially conservative work and pensions secretary, is understood to be preparing to abstain or vote in favour of the measure. Owen Paterson, the environment secretary, is understood to be less supportive.

Downing Street defended its decision to allow a free vote for the second reading while imposing a three-line whip on the programme motion. The prime minister's spokesman said: "It is a free vote because when MPs are voting on the matter of substance they are free to vote according to their own personal beliefs."

Traditionalists are citing Thatcher's vote in favour of Leo Abse's landmark sexual offences bill when it was presented to MPs in July 1966. Sir Cyril Osborne, the main Tory opponent of the measure, used an argument now deployed by opponents of same-sex marriage: reformers had no mandate for change.
