Nick Clegg was accused of 'riding roughshod' over
the views of the religious last night after he was forced to withdraw
comments in which he branded opponents of gay marriage 'bigots'.
The
former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, described the Deputy Prime
Minister as 'immature' over remarks he had issued ahead of a reception
to mark the end of a consultation on same-sex weddings.
The
Liberal Democrat leader was due to describe opponents of the reform as
'bigots', according to a Cabinet Office press release.

Nick
Clegg speaking to the actor Simon Callow on the night he made a speech
at a reception to celebrate the end of the Government's consultation on
gay marriage
He was expected to say:
'Continued trouble in the economy gives the bigots a stick to beat us
with, as they demand we “postpone” the equalities agenda in order to
deal with “the things people really care about”.
'As if pursuing greater equality and fixing the economy simply cannot happen at once.'
But
as the incendiary detail of his remarks quickly began to circulate, it
prompted a bitter row with MPs on the Tory Right who oppose gay
marriage, as well as church leaders.
Ninety minutes
after issuing the offending statement, Mr Clegg's office mounted an
extraordinary attempt to 'recall' it. Five minutes later, a new version
of the speech was issued, with the reference to 'bigots' taken out and
replaced with 'some people'.

Deputy
Prime Minister Nick Clegg was today forced to withdraw the statement
which accused opponents of gay marriage of being 'bigots'
Lord
Carey Of Clifton (left), the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said many
people would be 'highly offended' by Mr Clegg's remarks while
Conservative MP Peter Bone (right) said the Deputy PM should resign
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