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  No huge demand for gay marriage, says Philip Hammond
  
  Defence secretary wades into row over plans to legalise gay marriage, saying the issue is a waste
  
  of parliamentary time
  
  Philip Hammond said while civil partnerships had addressed the disadvantage faced by gay people,
  
  No 10 should not focus its efforts on equal marriage.
  
  Cabinet fury with David Cameron over gay marriage has been blown into the open after the defence
  
  secretary, Philip Hammond, criticised Downing Street for wasting parliamentary time on the issue and
  
  angering vast numbers of people.
  
  As the government moved to smooth the passage of the bill by delaying attempts to extend civil
  
  partnerships to heterosexual couples, Hammond said there was no huge demand for same-sex marriage.
  
  Speaking on the BBC's Question Time on Thursday evening, he said: "This change does redefine marriage.
  
  For millions and millions of people who are married, the meaning of marriage changes.
  
  There is a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the
  
  ability to change the definition of an institution like marriage."

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