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| Ukip councillor blames floods on gay marriage | Ukip councillor blames floods on gay marriage |
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| A UK Independence Party (Ukip) councillor has become the latest member to cause uproar, after blaming recent storms and floods on an act of God after the Government decided to legalise gay marriage. | A UK Independence Party (Ukip) councillor has become the latest member to cause uproar, after blaming recent storms and floods on an act of God after the Government decided to legalise gay marriage. |
| "I wrote to David Cameron in April 2012 to warn him that disasters would accompany the passage of his same sex marriage Bill," wrote David Silvester, who quit the Conservative party in protest at David Cameron's decision to support same-sex marriage. | "I wrote to David Cameron in April 2012 to warn him that disasters would accompany the passage of his same sex marriage Bill," wrote David Silvester, who quit the Conservative party in protest at David Cameron's decision to support same-sex marriage. |
| "But he went ahead", he continued, "despite a 600,000-signature petition by concerned Christians and more than half of his own parliamentary party saying that he should not do so.” | "But he went ahead", he continued, "despite a 600,000-signature petition by concerned Christians and more than half of his own parliamentary party saying that he should not do so.” |
| The Henley-on-Thames councillor said the country had been “beset by storms” since the passage of the bill, which he blamed on Mr Cameron acting “arrogantly against the Gospel”. | The Henley-on-Thames councillor said the country had been “beset by storms” since the passage of the bill, which he blamed on Mr Cameron acting “arrogantly against the Gospel”. |
| In a letter to The Henley Standard he wrote: “The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war." | In a letter to The Henley Standard he wrote: “The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war." |
| @ladyurbanfox @SLATUKIP pic.twitter.com/f9lk7zK1F5 | @ladyurbanfox @SLATUKIP pic.twitter.com/f9lk7zK1F5 |
| While categorically blaming the Prime Minister for the bad weather, he accuses Mr Cameron of "shedding crocodile tears on behalf of the destitute flooded homeowners", and asserts: “It is his fault that large swathes of the nation have been afflicted by storms and floods. | While categorically blaming the Prime Minister for the bad weather, he accuses Mr Cameron of "shedding crocodile tears on behalf of the destitute flooded homeowners", and asserts: “It is his fault that large swathes of the nation have been afflicted by storms and floods. |
| "He has arrogantly acted against the Gospel that once made Britain 'great' and the lesson surely to be learned is that no man or men, however powerful, can mess with Almighty God with impunity and get away with it for everything a nation does is weighed on the scaled of divine approval or disapproval.“ | "He has arrogantly acted against the Gospel that once made Britain 'great' and the lesson surely to be learned is that no man or men, however powerful, can mess with Almighty God with impunity and get away with it for everything a nation does is weighed on the scaled of divine approval or disapproval.“ |
| Ukip members rarely shy away from controversy and Mr Silvester follows in the footsteps of the likes of Ukip MEP Stuart Agnew, who said women do not have the ambition to get all the way to the top because babies "get in the way", and former Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom, whose reference to "bongo-bongo land" and his 'women who do not clean behind fridges are sluts' joke, forced him to resign from the party. | Ukip members rarely shy away from controversy and Mr Silvester follows in the footsteps of the likes of Ukip MEP Stuart Agnew, who said women do not have the ambition to get all the way to the top because babies "get in the way", and former Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom, whose reference to "bongo-bongo land" and his 'women who do not clean behind fridges are sluts' joke, forced him to resign from the party. |
| David Silvester said Britain had been 'beset by storms' since the passage of the bill | |
| A Ukip spokesperson defended Mr Silvester's right to voice his opinions, although the views he expressed are "not the party's belief". | A Ukip spokesperson defended Mr Silvester's right to voice his opinions, although the views he expressed are "not the party's belief". |
| A party spokeswoman said: "If the media are expecting Ukip to either condemn or condone someone's personal religious views they will get absolutely no response. Whether Jain or Sikh or Buddhist or Sufi or Zoroastrian or Jewish or Muslim or Baptist or Hindu or Catholic or Baha'i or Animist or any other mainstream or minor religion or movement, we are taught as a tolerant society to accept a diversity of ideologies. | A party spokeswoman said: "If the media are expecting Ukip to either condemn or condone someone's personal religious views they will get absolutely no response. Whether Jain or Sikh or Buddhist or Sufi or Zoroastrian or Jewish or Muslim or Baptist or Hindu or Catholic or Baha'i or Animist or any other mainstream or minor religion or movement, we are taught as a tolerant society to accept a diversity of ideologies. |
| “Freedom to individual thought and expression is a central tenet of any open-minded and democratic country. It is quite evident that this is not the party's belief but the councillor's own and he is more than entitled to express independent thought despite whether or not other people may deem it standard or correct." | “Freedom to individual thought and expression is a central tenet of any open-minded and democratic country. It is quite evident that this is not the party's belief but the councillor's own and he is more than entitled to express independent thought despite whether or not other people may deem it standard or correct." |