CV NEWS FEED // UK government expert Tom Harris is calling the Liberal Democrat Party’s deselection of devout Anglican Christian David Campanale “the latest incident showing Britain’s rejection of its Christian heritage.”
“It’s ironic, not to mention entertaining, that the very people who most enthusiastically embraced multiculturalism are the same people having the most difficulty navigating its consequences,” Harris wrote in a May 13 op-ed for the Telegraph. Harris is a former Labour Party MP and Minister for the Department of Transport. He also founded his own lobbying organisation, Third Avenue Public Affairs.
Harris wrote that the Liberal Democrats “have tied themselves in knots,” over their concern for multiculturalism, a cause which Christians are notably excluded from.
“The simple fact is that the Left is only capable of tolerating politicians who are “tick-box” Christians,” he observed, adding: “Muslim candidates and elected representatives, meanwhile, need make no excuses for their personal faith. To criticise a Muslim, or any other minority, for the illiberal tenets of their faith would be prejudicial. But Christians? They’re fair game.”
He continued:
Part of the paradox is that, this being a Christian country, at least culturally and historically, we are more familiar with Christianity and therefore feel free to criticise it. But Islam remains, to most people, a mysterious faith about which we know little. Criticism of Islam just feels, well… wrong, somehow.
Double standards are nothing new to the world of politics. But when our political establishment discriminates against Christians while failing to apply the same standards to other religions, something very serious has gone wrong with our democracy.
Campanale, a former BBC awarded journalist and a well-known defender of religious minorities around the world, was set to represent the party in Britain’s upcoming General Elections as a candidate for the Sutton and Cheam constituency
But the Liberal Democrats deselected Campanale after a two year long campaign waged by members of his local party and a group of LGBTQ+ activists, who alleged he had “not sufficiently disclosed his faith during the selection process,” according to the Telegraph’s May 12 report.
The campaign accused Campanale of maintaining ties with the Christian People’s Alliance (CPA), known for its staunch opposition towards abortion and gay marriage. Campanale left CPA in 2012, and claims he is being targeted as a “part of an ongoing attempt to secularise the Lib Dems.”
Members of the Lib Dem party who sympathise with Campanale have filed a complaint to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and called for an independent investigation into “multiple alleged breaches of equality law and our party constitution.”
In their letter to EHRC, the party members said the party, “a supposedly liberal organisation,” had allowed “clear religious discrimination and hostility to thrive within its ranks.” Despite having submitted evidence of religious discrimination and harassment against Campanale over the course of two years, the party members stated in their appeal to EHRC, “no appropriate action has been taken.”
“We believe that only an external investigation by the EHRC can now secure justice,” they added:
Mr Campanale was driven out from his democratically elected position not because of any objective failings or wrongdoing, but because a vocal group within SBLD [Sutton Borough Liberal Democrats] refused to tolerate his Christian worldview.
“If we are a truly multicultural, diverse nation, then everyone is equal, no adherents of any religion should enjoy particular advantages, political or otherwise,” Harris declared.
