The Liberal Democrats, sometimes viewed as Britain’s third largest political party, have tolerated a “hostile environment” for Christians and deselected a parliamentary candidate because of his Christian faith, in breach of equality law, some of its members have claimed.
David Campanale, who is an award-winning former BBC journalist and, crucially, an Anglican, is set to be replaced as a prospective MP candidate for Sutton and Cheam after what The Daily Telegraph described as “a two-year campaign against him by members of his local party and a number of LGBT activists.”
Human rights campaigner Benedict Rogers said the action against Campanale amounted to “persecution.” It is reminiscent of Tim Farron’s time as leader of the Lib Dems, which came to an end in 2017 after just two years when he concluded that “remaining faithful to Christ” was incompatible with leading the party.
Campanale, who is 60, has been associated with the Lib Dems since his student days, but has recently been targeted by seemingly anti-Christian elements of the party which say he had not sufficiently disclosed his Christian faith during the parliamentary selection process. Campanale has denied this claim, but it is worth considering why he should have to disclose his faith, anyway.
He has also been targeted over his involvement with the anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage Christian People’s Alliance (CPA) political party, which he himself later attacked as having been “infiltrated by extremists.”
Now that the figure is set to be replaced as the party’s prospective MP candidate for the Greater London seat, a number of Lib Dems who are sympathetic to Campanale’s cause have submitted a complaint to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). They want the equalities watchdog to investigate “multiple alleged breaches of equality law and our party constitution.”
The letter submitted to the EHRC, which has been seen by the Telegraph, reads:
This evidence depicts a supposedly liberal organisation allowing clear religious discrimination and hostility to thrive within its ranks.
It suggests that 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.
The complaint adds that “no appropriate action” has been taken by the party, despite Campanale having offered evidence of religious discrimination.
Rogers, who is a friend of Campanale, said that it was “neither ‘liberal’ nor ‘democratic’” for the figure to have been “hounded out [of the party] for his faith.”
The European Conservative has contacted the Liberal Democrats for comment, though the party has so far said little on the matter, pointing instead to the fact that the “decision [to deselect Campanale] is currently undergoing an appeal.” A spokesman did, however, note that “the Liberal Democrats are home to people of all faiths and none, including many Christians.”
