David Cameron has insisted he is relaxed about a backlash against his proposals to allow gay marriage in churches and other places of worship.

The Prime Minister is on a collision course both with church groups and his party's grassroots over the plans due to be unveiled today.

His stance mirrors the Scottish Government's which has set out proposals to change the law.

But the Conservative leader has come under fierce criticism from some of his own MPs with up to 130 tipped to oppose him in a free vote next year.

Mr Cameron said equal marriage was "not a priority by any stretch of the imagination" when his Government was preoccupied with the economy and public sector reform.

But he insisted it was a "good and right" thing to do and said he expected the measure to be passed by MPs "by a big majority" in a free vote.

Earlier, a vociferous Tory opponent, Monmouth MP David Davies, was forced to deny he was bigoted after activists responded with anger to his claim that most parents would prefer their children not to be gay.

Mr Davies warned of a grassroots backlash which could harm the Tories, saying: "We're going to lose a large number of very loyal activists who have gone out and campaigned for us over the years and who don't like this idea, so politically it's barking mad."