You can’t be a Liberal Democrat if you hold certain ‘religious beliefs’, leaked legal document shows
It appears that an individual cannot be a member of the Liberal Democrat Party if that person is religious and holds certain views such as being against abortion, according to reports. The uncomfortable revelations coincide with the Liberal Democrat Conference running 14-17 September. In legal papers filed by the party as part of a discrimination The post You can’t be a Liberal Democrat if you hold certain ‘religious beliefs’, leaked legal document shows appeared first on Catholic Herald.
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It appears that an individual cannot be a member of the Liberal Democrat Party if that person is religious and holds certain views such as being against abortion, according to reports. The uncomfortable revelations coincide with the Liberal Democrat Conference running 14-17 September.
In legal papers filed by the party as part of a discrimination case, the Liberal Democrats have defended barring prospective MPs if they voice particular religious views, reports the Daily Telegraph.
The remarks have emerged during a case involving David Campanale, a former BBC journalist, who is suing the party over claims he was removed from standing as a would-be Lib Dem MP because of his Christian faith.
The controversy follows accusations that Lib Dem officials are attempting to secularise the party and stamp out religious adherence and expression, and potentially “threatens to stoke tensions” during the conference as the party meets, notes the Telegraph.
Mr Campanale alleges that he faced religious discrimination after he was deselected as the Lib Dems’ candidate for Sutton and Cheam earlier this year.
The party’s official defence in the legal proceedings, submitted at Liverpool County Court last week and seen by the Daily Telegraph, claims the Lib Dems “had a right to deselect” him.
In the 34-page case file, the Lib Dems defend their decision to sack Mr Campanale by arguing that his “expressed religious beliefs against abortion, gay marriage and legal sex change conflicted with the fundamental values set out” in the party’s governing document.
The party also claimed that they had a right to deselect Mr Campanale because holding “such beliefs could, through their incompatibility with the Liberal Democrats’ policy positions on those matters, undermine the party’s ability to gain the confidence of the electorate in the constituency of Sutton and Cheam”.
Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken out on the case, suggesting it could set a dangerous precedent that potentially makes it “impossible” for various religious people to join political parties.
“The Liberal Democrat Party’s response to Campanale’s legal challenge has been to say that reservations about, for example, abortion or same-sex marriage are in conflict with ‘fundamental values’ held by the party,” Mr Williams told the Telegraph.
“If it is indeed impossible even to hold dissenting views, this ought to make it impossible for Orthodox Jews and most Muslims as well as Catholic and other Christians to represent the party. Is this really what the Lib Dems are saying?
“You may or may not agree with the personal beliefs of David Campanale – I share some but by no means all of them – but the precedent is a worrying one.”
Mr Williams added: “It is not enough to preserve one’s private conscientious judgement, it seems; total agreement in private and in public is demanded.”
The former head of the Church of England also noted that this apparent demand by the party flies in the face of assurances from Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, that issues such as abortion and euthanasia must remain “issues of conscience” that members are free to express their opinions and act on.
The Lib Dem leader offered those reassurances in response to an open letter in 2020 raising concerns about problems for conscience-voting Lib Dems. Davey noted and warned of a “growing intolerance within progressive, liberal parties the world over”, and insisted the right of MPs to vote freely according to their religious or ethical concerns “must be defended”.
The Lib Dems have been reported to the equalities watchdog amid claims the party has tolerated a “hostile environment” for religious members, the Telegraph reports, adding that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is understood to be consulting on whether to launch an investigation into the claims.
It also notes that Mr Campanale’s legal claim alleges that the deselection process did not follow party rules and that the “true motivation” was his religious beliefs, which are protected under equality laws.
The legal also states that Mr Campanale did not openly express anti-abortion or anti-gay marriage views in the selection process to become a Lib Dem candidate, rather it was his previous ties with the Christian People’s Alliance (CPA), a political party that has campaigned against abortion and gay marriage, that were instead used against him.
There was reportedly also an accusation of him failing to sufficiently disclose his faith during the selection process – a claim Mr Campanale denies.
The Lib Dems’ legal defence counters in a legal document that Mr Campanale was kicked out of the party for his “negative behaviours”, including “a failure to listen” and “an expectation that others should do his work for him”, alongside accusations that he “took criticism personally” and was “inflexible, selective and dogmatic”.
The document also claims the decision to oust him was “quintessentially an exercise of political judgment about what was best for the local party”.
A Liberal Democrat source told the Telegraph: “This is a case about a candidate who was dishonest and behaved badly towards local volunteers and we will not be gaslighted by him.”
The source added: “The Liberal Democrat leader and a large number of our MPs are practising Christians, including many who were elected for the first time in July, and we refute this cherry picking from a 60-page legal document.”
The Lib Dems’ legal defence admitted that Luke Taylor, Mr Campanale’s replacement, told him after his removal that “the party of past prominent Liberal Democrats with Christian beliefs, such as Shirley Williams and Charles Kennedy, was ‘over’”.
“That was a statement of fact reflecting the current policy platforms and public political stance of the Liberal Democrats, as shaped democratically by the decisions of its membership,” the legal document said.
The events involving Mr Campanale follow the much more publicised case of SNP politician Kate Forbes whose repeated bids for the leadership of Scotland’s main political party met with sustained opposition and often vitriolic efforts to undermine her position in the party on the basis of her personal Christian beliefs.
Set against that background, and a rise in the likes of cancelling and no-platforming of such candidates, a recent poll indicated that the majority of Brits don’t approve of the treatment of politicians with religious views by political parties.
Photo: Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, delivers his keynote speech during the Liberal Democrat conference at Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, England, 26 Septembe 2023. (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images.)
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