I REALLY struggle to get my head around the arguments from Suffolk Coastal MP Dr Therese Coffey and her anti-gay marriage colleagues about why the state should ban ceremonies in church.

I can understand – but don’t agree with – the opposition to gay marriage.

I also understand that if this goes ahead then places of worship who don’t accept it should not have to carry out such ceremonies.

But I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone in Parliament thinks it is right to ban churches that want to conduct gay marriages from doing so alongside register offices and hotels.

If the Quakers, reformed synagogues, and Rev Andrew Dotchin at Whitton church want to conduct gay marriages, shouldn’t it be up to them?