Legalising same-sex marriage was 'damaging' for Tories, Philip Hammond says But I was then quite shocked by the urge to move on so quickly to the next stage. I dare say in time I will become quite comfortable with the institution of same-sex marriage. [But] I suspect I speak for a large number of Conservatives when I say it isn't so much the substance of the change as the process and things being evolutionary and gradually taking root rather than through tumultuous change which is disturbing to the settled instinct. A total of 133 Tory MPs, including two cabinet ministers, voted against same-sex marriage legislation earlier this year. The bill, however, was passed with the support of Labour MPs. Mr Cameron said at the time that he was proud of the achievement. He said: "I think we should think about it like this - there will be young boys in schools today who are gay who are worried about being bullied, who are worried what society thinks of them ... and I think they will stand that bit taller today. I am proud of the fact that has happened. Mr Hammond said that in time he will come to terms with the change. He said: "I think the Tory party is nothing if not pragmatic and most people will now regard this as something that's behind us. We have to focus on the challenges ahead, not carping on disagreements that have happened in the past. I think people will move on. He said that the Conservatives need to "raise our eyes" and do more to set out a clear vision for Britain in 2020 and take credit for the economic recovery. He said: "We need to explain how we are turning this into a recovery for all. Because while there is no doubt we are approaching a recovery, the figures are suggesting the economy is beginning to recover, people are of course still feeling hard pressed. We've got a lot of ground to make up because we lost a lot of economic output during the recession, and we need to show people how we will use the economic recovery to boost living standards in a sustainable way. He said that the party needs to continue with its reforming agenda. He said: "We've got an education system that is now in the process of reform, but we've still got some way to go in delivering the educational results that we need to be competitive in the future. And the reforms of our welfare system are critical ... Moving from a dependency culture to a self-reliance culture, which I think is happening anyway, it is a generational change, so what we're doing I think is working with the changing grain of society.