The head of the French parliament has received a letter containing gunpowder, ordering him to put off tomorrow’s vote on marriage equality.

Claude Bartolone, the Socialist President of France’s National Assembly, received the threatening letter today (22 April).

The one-page letter warns: ‘You wanted war, and you’ve got it.’

According to French magazine L’Express, and as reported by The Local, the politician was told ‘our methods are more radical and more swift than protests.’

Signed by ‘Interaction des forces de l’ordre’, it is the same signature used in a letter containing bullets sent in March to a judge investigating former French president Nicolas Sarkoxy.

‘Allowing marriage for all would be the same as destroying all marriage,’ the letter to Bartolone says.

‘If you were to carry on regardless, your political family will have to suffer physically.’

Both letters will now form part of the same anti-terrorism investigation.

Last week, Socialist members of parliament Sylviane Bulteau and Hugues Fourage were sent letters from anti-gay extremists threatening to kidnap or kill them or their loved ones.

On 19 April, the French President Francois Hollande warned anti-gay violence will be punished.

‘I cannot accept homophobic acts and violence against property in the midst of protests, or any defiance of law enforcement officials,’ he said.

‘Procedures must be respected, sensibilities must be respected, and everyone must be heard…But the law and parliament also need to be respected.’

The comments were following Frigide Barjot, the leader of France’s primary anti-gay marriage group Manif Pour Tous), who said: ‘Hollande wants blood, and he will get it’.

On Sunday, around 45,000 people protested against marriage equality in Paris.