The folly of Cameron’s gay marriage culture war

For some time now, a growing number of Tory MPs have been quietly informing the whips that they will not be voting to support gay marriage. They’ve been getting letters from their constituents, and even those in favour of the idea know that they can’t afford to support it. When a cabinet member spoke to the whips office recently, he was given a startling reply: don’t worry, it will never come to a vote. The consultation is ongoing, but the agenda is being dropped. The effect it’s having on the morale of the Tory grassroots is calamitous. I look at this fiasco in my Daily Telegraph column today, and here are the main points.

1. The kulturkampf over gay marriage defines American politics, not Britain’s. Obama backed it this week, and it was big news. Not because he’ll do anything: the President doesn’t decide such matters, and several states have gone ahead and legalised gay marriage anyway.