Prominent Tory disowns ‘religious right’ and supports gay marriage

A prominent Conservative has broken ranks with his allies on the religious right by declaring his support for the Government’s controversial plans to legalise gay marriage.

In an interview with The Independent, Tim Montgomerie dismissed criticism that extending equal rights to gays and lesbians would weaken marriage. He said Tories and church leaders should support gay marriage because it would save the institution, not destroy it. Marriage is probably the most important Conservative institution and excluding people from it is therefore excluding people from Conservativism to a significant extent, he said — via redwolf.newsvine.com