The UK
Government must keep its promise to introduce tax breaks for married couples
by 2015, the Work and Pension Secretary, Iain 
Duncan Smith has demanded.
Plans to
introduce such a tax break are strongly opposed by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick
Clegg. Proponents say it will signal the importance of marriage for society and for children, but Clegg believes it is wrong to favour married couples over
cohabiting couples.
In Britain
the tax code takes no account of the marital status of a couple. The UK tax
code treats tax payers only as individuals and does not take account of any
dependents they may have or their joint responsibilities.
Meanwhile,
Defence Secretary Liam Fox has warned the Government not to introduce same-sex
marriage against the will of the people.
He said: “To
ask the majority to change how they define marriage because of what a smaller
number want will not be socially acceptable and is likely to undo a great deal
of the tolerance that has actually come to the fore in recent decades and that
would be a great pity.”
So far 600,000 people have signed a petition against the
introduction of same-sex marriage. The petition is being organised by the
Coalition for Marriage.