Archbishop of Wales: Gay marriage ban was 'total shock'

In a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, the Culture Secretary Maria Miller announced she was putting in place a "quadruple lock" of measures to guarantee that neither the Church of England or the Church of Wales would have to offer same sex marriages.

On Thursday, at a meeting of church and political figures, it emerged that the Right Reverend Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester and the Church of England's lead spokesman in the House of Lords, felt that there had been a lack of consultation over the announcement.

He said that the church had not asked for the so-called "quadruple lock" to be put in place.

Speaking on The World at One the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, expressed concern about the government's plans and how they will impact on the Church in Wales: "There has got to be a way round this legally with out making it a criminal act to hold such marriages in church if we so wish."

"This is not a position that we are terribly happy with," he explained, this "was done with to any consultation at all... it came as a total shock to us".

"It has put us in an enormously difficult position."