Sense won the day on gay marriages

So, half the Tory parliamentary party went snarling through the "No" lobby in the way only Conservatives do.

A few Labour MPs also said "no", but in the end there were enough sensible MPs on all sides of the House to make sure that the Same Sex Marriage Bill (second reading) won the day.

There were some wonderful speeches, notably from Yvette Cooper, the shadow equalities minister, and Nick Herbert, the gay Tory MP who tried to persuade his colleagues that the world as we know it would not come to end if gay marriage became law.

I hope all those malcontent Tory activists who have resigned their party membership over this issue will scurry off and join the hopeless UKIP project or the BNP and leave David Cameron and Theresa May to try to further detoxify the Nasty Party.

BISSELL 8910E Best Buy Carpet Cleaner WAS £229.99 - NOW £149.99

Freenet Ltd

View details

Bissell's 8910E Aroma Pro is the ultimate in home cleaning giving you a machine that provides outstanding results when not just cleaning carpets but stairs and upholstery too.

Terms: Limited Stock Offer . FREE Delivery to most UK postcodes.

Contact: 01664 491439

Valid until: Tuesday, May 28 2013

On this issue at least, the Tory leadership have shown great principle at the potential expense of the cohesion of their own party – though they still don't care enough for the poor and offer too much to the rich.

Mark Sperry, Leicester.

I beg to differ with the Mercury Opinion of February 4 that "it does nobody else any harm to legalise same-sex marriages".

In my view it is quite likely to do harm.

Individuals and organisations that have a conscientious objection to same-sex marriage – should a challenge be brought in the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) – simply cannot be protected by the Government once an act of Parliament changes the meaning of the word "marriage".

EHCR cannot be trusted to protect these people. EHCR judges (not always known for sensible decisions) will make what they will from badly drafted legislation.

This will prevent individuals such as teachers and civil servants from being entitled to the right of freedom of thought, conscience and religion under Article 9 of the Human Rights Convention.

Some could lose their jobs. That will cause harm.

The fact is that gays, according to statistics, represent 0.1 per cent of the population. Very few of them want to get married, especially with the current cost of divorce.

Many relationships do not last. Already, some gays have found very expensive consequences of civil partnership legislation.

So why is the Government, with a lot of legislation pending, so eager to present us with another piece of badly drafted and ill-considered legislation opening the gate for the ECHR to trample on existing rights of expression by the majority?

Only human rights lawyers will be happy.

So much for the right of an individual to "manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance" contained in Article 9 of the Convention.

Michael Myers, Leicester.

This week, Parliament historically voted to support equal marriage.

Whether you love or loathe David Cameron, you have to give the man credit for leading many of his MPs through the "Aye" lobby.

What I found surprising was that so many of Leicestershire's Conservative MPs voted against these proposals, my own South Leicestershire MP, Andrew Robathan, included.

As a gay person of advanced years, I find it insulting that my elected representative sought to continue to discriminate against me and deny me the joy and happiness of married life that he is fortunate enough to enjoy.

Needless to say, Mr Robathan will not be receiving an invitation to my wedding, nor enjoying my support at the next General Election.

By going through the "No" lobby, he undid so much that his party's leader and more enlightened political colleagues had done in helping to sweep away the label of the Tories as the Nasty Party.

Ms T Sweet, Braunstone Town.