Nick Clegg rejects 'bigot' claim

It is pretty clear that some people oppose marriage rights for gay people because of deep-seated homophobic bigotry. Nick Clegg should not be afraid to say so.

These intolerant and intemperate remarks by Nick Clegg show that there is nothing liberal about him whatsoever.

The majority of people in this country oppose the redefinition of marriage, according to polling, and his comments effectively criticise millions of ordinary men and women.

Nick Clegg should confine himself to fixing the broken economy, which he was elected to do, rather than attacking those people who back the centuries-old definition of marriage.

This was not something the Deputy Prime Minister has said. It is not something he was ever going to say, because it is not something that he believes.

It was removed from the draft copy, that should never have been sent out, for that very reason.

I am a little bit surprised to see cameras assembled outside the gates, for the slightly obscure surprising reason that they expect me to use a word about opponents of gay marriage that I had no intention of using, would never use. It is not the kind of word that I would use. But there you go. That is one way of getting attention for a discreet little reception like this. But on a serious point, while I stridently disagree with those who would block moves towards equal marriage, I never seek to engage in debate in insulting terms.

Continued trouble in the economy gives the bigots a stick to beat us with, as they demand we “postpone” the equalities agenda in order to deal with “the things people really care about."

Continued trouble in the economy leads some people to demand we “postpone” the equalities agenda in order to deal with “the things people really care about."