Lady Johnston resigns from the Lib Dems

16 March 2012

The widow of a former Scottish Leader of The Liberal Democrats has written to Nick Clegg to intimate her resignation because of “the way The Party is promoting gay ‘marriage’.”

Lady Johnston, who lives in Inverness in Danny Alexander’s constituency, is the widow of Lord Russell-Johnston, a former Leader of The Scottish Liberal Party and Deputy Leader of The Liberal Democrats.

In a letter to Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, she writes: “the straw that has finally broken the camel’s back is your claim in a recent e-mail to me, that one of the Liberal Democrats’ achievements by 2015 will have been the first gay marriage.”

The Scottish Christian Party drew attention to this similar disgraceful priority in the first majority SNP Government.

She concludes her letter: “As a committed Christian, I have no choice but to resign my Party membership forthwith.”  This raises the question where does this leave other committed Christians in the Lib Dems and in other parties?

Momentum
Last year, two Highland Councillors resigned from the Liberal Democrat Group on the Highland Council.  Lady Johnston’s courageous decision will add momentum to the collapse of Lib Dem support in the Highlands.  A letter in today’s issue of The Inverness Courier draws attention to the local Lib Dem newsletter claiming credit for local initiatives promoted by community councils.

Some Lib Dem Christians and SNP Chrisitans are asking themselves the question: Is this what they have campaigned so many years for?  It is a question of trust, and this trust is being betrayed by political party leaders.

Inability to trust politicians - why should the public trust them, when the public is not instructed in the basis of trust?
Christians are supposed to know about trust - it is central to the Gospel.  So why are so many of them ready to trust that which is untrustworthy?  A political process with no fundamental standards can never command trust because promises may not be kept - the next set of politicians can do the opposite of what the current ones promise.  So why trust them?

The major parties in Scotland - the SNP, Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and the Greens - are in a political pact to redefine marriage.  Although the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholics and the smaller Presbyterian Churches have publicly opposed this humanistic agenda, our Scottish MSPs are holding hands to support each other.  If good government requires a strong opposition, then the composition of this Scottish Parliament will not yield balanced nor good legislation on this matter.  This is “politicians against people”.  This is neither democracy nor truly consultative government.  It is the flaunting and abuse of political power.

The major parties are losing their sense of direction, but they think that by holding hands together that they can resist the tide of Christian common sense.  Hopefully they will fall down together, like a pack of cards.

Another casualty
Rowan Williams has announced today his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury.  Some have suggested that the pressure on redefining marriage has led to his unexpected decision.

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