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| Ukip suspends Oxfordshire councillor who blamed floods on legalisation of gay marriage | Ukip suspends Oxfordshire councillor who blamed floods on legalisation of gay marriage |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A Ukip councillor who blamed the recent floods on the passing of gay marriage laws has been suspended. | A Ukip councillor who blamed the recent floods on the passing of gay marriage laws has been suspended. |
| David Silvester, a councillor for Henley-on-Thames, said that he had warned the Prime Minister of “repercussions” if gay marriage had gone ahead and told BBC Radio Berkshire his daily prayers convinced him the recent flooding was the consequence. | David Silvester, a councillor for Henley-on-Thames, said that he had warned the Prime Minister of “repercussions” if gay marriage had gone ahead and told BBC Radio Berkshire his daily prayers convinced him the recent flooding was the consequence. |
| He said the new law, paving the way for the first gay marriages in Britain this spring, was the latest mistake which would anger God - following on from abortion laws, which he likened to the Holocaust. | He said the new law, paving the way for the first gay marriages in Britain this spring, was the latest mistake which would anger God - following on from abortion laws, which he likened to the Holocaust. |
| In the radio interview, which followed his initial claims about the link between flooding and gay marriage in a letter to the Henley Standard, Mr Silvester said: “I don't have a problem with gay people. | In the radio interview, which followed his initial claims about the link between flooding and gay marriage in a letter to the Henley Standard, Mr Silvester said: “I don't have a problem with gay people. |
| Ukip councillor blames floods on gay marriage | |
| ”I believe as a Christian I should love gay people and, indeed, I do. My prayer for them is they will be healed. | ”I believe as a Christian I should love gay people and, indeed, I do. My prayer for them is they will be healed. |
| “I believe that is what the Apostle Paul said in the New Testament, he said some of you are gay but you have been healed. There is healing for the gay condition and I believe a Christian should long for gay people to be healed and to have normal heterosexual lives. | “I believe that is what the Apostle Paul said in the New Testament, he said some of you are gay but you have been healed. There is healing for the gay condition and I believe a Christian should long for gay people to be healed and to have normal heterosexual lives. |
| ”It is nonsense to say it is homophobic. If you love a person enough to want them to be healed and to have a proper family, that is hardly homophobic. | ”It is nonsense to say it is homophobic. If you love a person enough to want them to be healed and to have a proper family, that is hardly homophobic. |
| “It is a spiritual disease... it's not what I say, it's what the Bible says.” | “It is a spiritual disease... it's not what I say, it's what the Bible says.” |
| Mr Silvester, who defected from the Tories to Ukip in protest at Mr Cameron’s support for same-sex laws, said he was convinced that there were “repercussions for a nation persisting in what is wrong”, and that he had clear beliefs “there are things that are right and wrong”. | Mr Silvester, who defected from the Tories to Ukip in protest at Mr Cameron’s support for same-sex laws, said he was convinced that there were “repercussions for a nation persisting in what is wrong”, and that he had clear beliefs “there are things that are right and wrong”. |
| “Over the years we have done many things that have caused problems,” he said. | “Over the years we have done many things that have caused problems,” he said. |
| “One, for example, is the abortion laws in which something like six million children, as many as the people killed by the Nazis in the death camps, have been killed as a result of the abortion laws. | “One, for example, is the abortion laws in which something like six million children, as many as the people killed by the Nazis in the death camps, have been killed as a result of the abortion laws. |
| ”Now, this is a process. The latest in this process is these homosexual laws and the homosexual marriage.“ | ”Now, this is a process. The latest in this process is these homosexual laws and the homosexual marriage.“ |
| 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”. |
| PA | PA |
| UK News in Pictures | UK News in Pictures |