PM defends gay marriage

Responding to last night's vote on gay marriage at Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron said:

After MPs backed plan to legalise gay marriage by 400 votes to 175 on Tuesday, Virgin Holidays capitalised on the opportunity to advertise its travel offers by tweeting this picture:

Culture Secretary Maria Miller has suggested the Conservative rebellion on plans for gay marriage came as no surprise to the Government.

Tonight's Conservative rebellion on gay marriage shows the Prime Minister's political strategy to rebrand or redefine his party was "inappropriate", according to a leading Tory MP.

Ministerial aide David Burrowes, one of the leading opponents of the plans to legalise same-sex marriage, said it was "unprecedented" for more than half the party to fail to support a Government Bill.

Labour MP Chris Bryant, who has sparred frequently with David Cameron in the Commons, has welcomed a rare union with the Prime Minister on the issue of gay marriage.

The Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather has blogged about why she voted against the same-sex marriage bill. She was one of only four MPs in her party to do so.

She said it was "one of the most difficult decisions" she has ever taken and that she was torn between her support for liberal gay rights and her commitment to Catholicism.

The Coronation Street actor Antony Cotton has tweeted about today's vote: