EGN NEWS DESK
Two Conservative MPs (now parliamentary candidates) who’ve been vocal in defending the function of orthodox Christian religion in public life would lose their seats within the General Election on July 4 if present opinion polls show proper.
Nick Fletcher gained the South Yorkshire constituency of the Don Valley (now renamed Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) for the Conservatives from Labour within the 2019 General Election.
Fletcher spoke with alarm out in regards to the “assault on Christianity” in response to a report revealed this week by Voice for Justice UK (VfJ) on how LGBT ideology is marginalising orthodox Christians.
He mentioned: “Christianity is the cornerstone for therefore most of the values we take without any consideration. If it weren’t for Christianity our tolerance, our range, freedom of conscience and love for our neighbour would change into a factor of the previous.
“This report must be circulated broadly amongst these working in human assets, these answerable for schooling, in addition to employers, Church leaders, civil servants and people answerable for coverage making.
“We all must get up to the assault on Christianity in our society, earlier than it turns into one thing much more sinister. This report is an important step in sounding the alarm.”
The VfJ survey of 1,562 UK Christians about their experiences of intolerance or discrimination identified: “While there needs to be no hierarchy within the listing of protected traits (underneath the Equality Act 2010), this seems to be contradicted by the truth. It seems that there’s a hierarchy of protected traits, with all issues LGBT+ on the prime and ethnicity barely under that.”
Unfortunately, Fletcher’s orthodox Christian voice could be misplaced to the House of Commons if the ‘Red Wall’ seats within the North of England, gained by the Conservatives in 2019, revert to Labour on July 4.
The Reform UK web site says the party is fielding a candidate in Doncaster East. Reform could declare it would take votes from Labour however the actuality is that in Fletcher’s constituency it could appeal to disillusioned 2019 Conservative voters.
The different Christian ‘Red Wall’ MP wanting susceptible is Miriam Cates, who gained the South Yorkshire seat of Stocksbridge and Penistone for the Conservatives from Labour in 2019. The Reform web site says the candidate in her constituency is to be organized.
In May 2023 the Guardian newspaper ran a profile of Cates which highlighted her Christian religion: “Cates met her husband at their church in Sheffield and sits on parliament’s ecclesiastical committee, which scrutinises the Church of England…She has been likened to Kate Forbes – the SNP politician who ran for the party management however whose fervent spiritual views had been seen as outdated by most of her party.”
The paper mentioned: “When Forbes got here underneath fireplace, Cates known as her ‘extremely courageous’. The Tory MP additionally cited Tim Farron, the previous Liberal Democrat chief who was criticised for suggesting homosexual intercourse was a sin, in an interview with the Christian Institute.”
It quoted her telling the CI: “I get so many emails from Christians and plenty of others thanking me for taking a stand on this stuff and that does actually preserve you going.”
Reform chief Nigel Farage has on many events expressed his respect for the best way wherein Christianity has formed our nation. On the BBC’s ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ political programme on June 9 he invoked “Christian forgiveness” when requested in regards to the felony previous of a Reform candidate. “There is a factor known as Christian forgiveness. If folks get convicted of one thing or do one thing fallacious, properly, they’ve one other likelihood in life to go on and show themselves,” he mentioned.
Cates is defending a majority from 2019 of seven,210 and Fletcher 3,630. Though their seats would fall to Labour with none assist from Reform if the polls show true, the countercultural Christian voices of those two MPs would arguably stand a greater likelihood of constant to be heard in Parliament if their party had had the sense to kind an electoral pact with Farage.
Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based mostly in Lancashire.
