David Cameron’s ‘casual imposition’ of gay marriage “insulted settled beliefs”, and “wounded him politically”, a former editor of The Daily Telegraph has said.
Writing for the paper, Charles Moore commented that the main political parties treat opponents of same-sex marriage as “moral inferiors”.
He criticised the assumption in parts of the Western world that those who disagree with redefining marriage are “bigots” and should be “virtually disqualified from public office”.
Casually imposed
Moore, a columnist and former editor of The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph, said that the “balance” of civil partnerships was “violated by the way that Mr Cameron casually imposed gay marriage”.
“His approach insulted settled beliefs, and therefore wounded him politically more than people like to state directly”, Moore added.
Last month, Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh said the Party’s “controversial and revolutionary” same-sex marriage policy is one of the reasons it has lost voters.
Traditional marriage
In an article for a Conservative grassroots website, he suggested that the Party should take more care “not to infuriate” supporters, and called for it to promote traditional marriage.
Earlier this year, local Tory chiefs warned David Cameron that his introduction of same-sex marriage is causing a decline in Tory membership ahead of the next General Election.
Annual reports for some local associations showed an average drop in membership of ten per cent across constituencies in 2013, at least 15 of which attributed the fall to gay marriage or unhappiness with national decisions.