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Boris Johnson calls on Tories to unite and for the government to ‘get on with legalising equal marriage’

May 21 2013
Written by Scott Roberts

London Mayor Boris Johnson has called on the government to get the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill signed into law as soon as possible.

ITV News reports the senior Conservative said: “Get it on the statute books and get on with it.”

Mr Johnson has also called on fractious Tories to unite and target Labour.

Yesterday, the bill risked being derailed and required the support of Labour MPs to overcome a potentially lethal wrecking amendment.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill is to receive a third and final Commons reading throughout this afternoon and evening.

Former Conservative Party chairman Lord Tebbit launched a foul-mouthed attack on David Cameron in an interview to the Big Issue on Tuesday.

He said the party leadership had “fucked things up,” with disgruntled Tories being forced into the hands of UKIP.

Last summer, Boris Johnson released an Out4Marriage video, saying that he saw “no reason” why the “happy state” of marriage should be denied to “anybody”.

In 2010, Mr Johnson became one of the first senior Conservatives to back same-sex marriage, telling PinkNews.co.uk: “If the Conservatives and Liberals [Liberal Democrats] can get together in a national coalition and settle their differences, I don’t see why you can’t have gay marriage.”