Editorial: Time for a free vote on gay marriage

Gay people are more than just equal partners in a relationship. They are equal partners in a society where people should be allowed to marry regardless of their sexuality.

Today, Independentvoices.com is launching a manifesto demanding that civil marriages should be extended to homosexual couples. There is a cross-party consensus which accepts this. Indeed, the Coalition Government is committed to rewriting the definition of marriage by 2015. Yet our political class has, so far, been too cowardly to push ahead.

No more excuses. The arguments on both sides have been set out. The Government should put the matter to a free vote in the House of Commons forthwith.