The debate over gay marriage is back on the agenda with evidence that the government might allow religious elements into civil partnership ceremonies.

In a parliamentary answer recently, equalities minister Lynne Featherstone said the coalition government might introduce the religious elements into the ceremonies.

Such a move would make civil partnerships effectively indistinguishable from traditional weddings, given that parliament recently allowed for them to be held in churches and other places of worship when it amended the Equality Act.

London Mayor Boris Johnson recently added his voice to demands for gay weddings while at the Gay Pride festival in London saying: “If the Conservatives and Liberals can get together in a national coalition and settle their differences, I don’t see why you can’t have gay marriage”.