Stonewall has warmly welcomed David Cameron’s speech referring to extending the legal form of marriage to gay people. Cameron was speaking at the Tory Party Conference in Manchester.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband are also supporters of gay marriage - one of the issues all three leaders agree on.

In his speech, the prime minister said, "I once stood before a Conservative conference and said it shouldn’t matter whether commitment was between a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and another man. You applauded me for that. Five years on, we’re consulting on legalising gay marriage. And to anyone who has reservations, I say: Yes, it’s about equality, but it’s also about something else: commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don’t support gay marriagedespite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative."

"We warmly welcome David Cameron’s commitment," said Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive. "It’s unthinkable that a Conservative prime minister would have felt able to say this a decade ago. We look forward to the government now implementing this commitment within the lifetime of this parliament, as promised."

Politics