By Tim Montgomerie
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I don't want to get into another big debate on gay marriage today. While I accept that the issue is unpopular with a large number of big C and little c conservatives the evidence is that most of the public are in favour of the change. I also remain of the view that Conservatives should be encouraging commitment wherever it exists. I also believe that in ten or twenty years' time – perhaps much sooner – it will be a settled and uncontroversial issue and the Conservative Party shouldn't risk being on the wrong side of history.
The point of this blog, however, isn't to go over old ground but to remind ourselves of the context in which David Cameron made his commitment to gay marriage – back in 2006, long before we were in bed with the Liberal Democrats. That context was the party's commitment to introduce a recognition of marriage into the tax system – a commitment that was made by David Cameron when he was campaigning for the party leadership. I'm sure he believes in gay marriage as a matter of principle but by promising to extend a married tax break to same-sex couples he was also attempting to increase the acceptance of this tax reform.
Unfortunately we seem to have forgotten the tax break promise while still advocating equal marriage. That's a shame…
If Cameron is looking for a socially-just, popular and distinctively Conservative policy success he should order George Osborne to revive this one.
I suggest conservatives and Christians should also focus on the promotion of marriage in the tax system (and in other ways) rather than devoting so much energy to a cause, like gay marriage, which they'll ultimately lose.