The Christian Institute:

Openly gay popstar Will Young believes vicars who describe gay marriage as ‘abhorrent’ should be prosecuted for hate crimes.

He made the comments live on national television as BBC1’s Question Time debated Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s remarks about same-sex marriage.

Daily Mail columnist Janice Atkinson, who was also on the show, warned that clergy could be “called into a police station” for sharing their beliefs on traditional marriage in strong terms to which Mr Young replied “yes, rightfully so”.

...Mrs Atkinson added that Britain would be “walking into a police state if we go down that route”.

Earlier in the programme the popstar claimed that if Cardinal O’Brien had made similar remarks regarding race or religion “he’d be in court now”.

Government minister Eric Pickles said, “for merely expressing the view that it is wrong in the view of his religion, to turn that into a hate crime would be the worst kind of repression”.