If Mohandas K Gandhi’s maxim that “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win” is true, last Wednesday’s MPs’ report-back on same-sex marriage showed that opposition on the issue among conservative MPs has reached the “fight you” stage.

Resulting in just a handful of new MPs reporting support on the issue, either personally or in their electorates, the event was overwhelmingly hijacked by conservatives — including some who had not even actively sought the views of constituents on the issue — to go on the attack.