Elton John has revealed he is in no rush to get married.

The Government has faced strong opposition over its plans to legalise gay marriage.

Sir Elton entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish in December 2005 but he does not feel the need just now for the two to marry.

“I don’t need the Church to ratify my relationship. We’re very happy the way we are,” he told the BBC.

He continued: “If marriage happens then great, I’m not going to say no. It’s a step to equality and there is obviously debate on both sides. But it certainly isn’t going to ruin civilisation.

He added: “Heterosexual marriage has done more to ruin the idea of marriage than anything else.”

The singer was speaking to the BBC about being a father, his past drug addiction, and his HIV and Aids work.

He recalls how he used to use cocaine, alcohol and marijuana, and said that his biggest achievement in life was “getting sober”.

Sir Elton has raised more than £175 million for HIV and Aids research. He said the cure to the stigma surrounding HIV was for people to “be more compassionate to one another, more Christian towards one another, not so hateful to one another”.

Talking about being a parent to son Zachary, born two years ago to a surrogate mother, he said: “I want to take him to school and I want to pick him up. I don’t want to miss that part of his childhood.”