Current Affairs

Boris Johnson: I can’t see what the fuss is about with same-sex marriage

Jan 30 2015
Written by Nick Duffy

Boris Johnson has dismissed Tory critics of same-sex marriage, claiming he “can’t see what the fuss is about”.

Mr Johnson is currently the Mayor of London, but is planning to return to Parliament in May.

He made the comments in an interview with the Daily Mail, saying of same-sex marriage: “I can’t see what the fuss is about”.

Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh claimed last year that same-sex marriage was responsible for UKIP gaining their first ever elected MP.

He said after Douglas Carswell was elected in Clacton: “UKIP was created by the failures of our leadership… they are the only ones whose actions can get our people back in the fold.

“A whole host of errors conceived or approved of by Tory bigwigs has fostered the steady loss of votes to the Faragists… [including] controversial and revolutionary social policies such as same-sex civil marriage.”

MP Gerald Howarth also attacked Conservative leader David Cameron for his role in introducing same-sex marriage.

He said: “Politically it was a disaster. I had lunch with a loyal Cabinet minister who said he had lost 24 members in a week.”

However, David Cameron recently hailed the introduction of same-sex marriage as one of his proudest achievements in 2014.

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.”