Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

In a short statement, the established Church said that the scale of the majorities in both the Commons and Lords made clear that it is the will of Parliament that same sex couples “should” be allowed to marry.

The Bishop of Leicester, who leads the bishops in the House of Lords, said they would now concentrate their efforts on “improving” rather than halting an historic redefinition of marriage.

It represents a dramatic change of tack in the year since the Church insisted that gay marriage posed one of the biggest threats of disestablishment of the Church of England since the reign of Henry VIII.

And it comes despite a warning from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, that the redefinition of marriage would undermine the “cornerstone” of society.

The climb-down comes as the newest diocesan bishop in the Church of England said that support for gay marriage was “understandable” because of the way gay people had been treated in Britain in the past.

The Rt Rev David Walker, who was named today as the new Bishop of Manchester, insisted that although the Government bill was “flawed” had he been in the House of Lords he would not have voted against it.

Peers voted by 390 to 148 against a motion which would have struck down the Government’s same-sex marriage bill on Tuesday.

It will now be scrutinised by peers who are likely to add a series of amendments to add extra protections for teachers or other workers who object on grounds of conscience.