AIRLINK 194.79 Increased By ▲ 1.29 (0.67%)
BOP 9.70 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.62%)
CNERGY 7.58 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.66%)
FCCL 38.12 Increased By ▲ 0.42 (1.11%)
FFL 15.63 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.19%)
FLYNG 25.80 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (0.82%)
HUBC 128.20 Increased By ▲ 1.13 (0.89%)
HUMNL 13.69 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (1.41%)
KEL 4.61 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.66%)
KOSM 6.18 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.31%)
MLCF 44.20 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (0.55%)
OGDC 204.65 Increased By ▲ 1.41 (0.69%)
PACE 6.43 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.47%)
PAEL 41.03 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.12%)
PIAHCLA 17.50 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.06%)
PIBTL 7.66 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
POWER 9.10 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.22%)
PPL 176.25 Increased By ▲ 2.00 (1.15%)
PRL 38.47 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (1.05%)
PTC 24.30 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (0.96%)
SEARL 108.00 Increased By ▲ 0.76 (0.71%)
SILK 0.98 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (1.03%)
SSGC 37.15 Increased By ▲ 0.75 (2.06%)
SYM 18.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-1.26%)
TELE 8.44 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (2.43%)
TPLP 12.00 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (1.87%)
TRG 66.60 Increased By ▲ 1.72 (2.65%)
WAVESAPP 11.80 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.46%)
WTL 1.70 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (1.19%)
YOUW 3.98 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (3.38%)
BR100 11,820 Increased By 52.2 (0.44%)
BR30 35,312 Increased By 348 (1%)
KSE100 112,055 Increased By 567.4 (0.51%)
KSE30 35,111 Increased By 176.8 (0.51%)

imageLONDON: A local councillor for the anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP) has blamed recent storms and floods across Britain on the government's decision to legalise gay marriage, it emerged on Saturday.

David Silvester, who defected from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party in protest at the move to allow same-sex couples to marry, made the claim in a letter to his local newspaper.

"I wrote to David Cameron in April 2012 to warn him that disasters would accompany the passage of his same-sex marriage bill," wrote Silvester, an elected member of the town council in Henley-on-Thames, west of London.

He added: "It is his (Cameron's) 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 scale of divine approval or disapproval."

The Conservative member of parliament for Henley, John Howell, said the comments were "not the sort of thing that he should have written in today's age" and said Silvester needed to "consider his position".

A UKIP spokeswoman said Silvester's views were "not the party's belief" but said he was entitled to state his opinions.

Cameron pushed through the gay marriage law last year against fierce opposition within his Conservative party, and the first weddings are expected to take place in March.

In a concession to opposition from the established Churches of England and Wales, however, those institutions are banned from conducting ceremonies.

UKIP prides itself on not bowing to what it terms "political correctness" on social issues and is steadily building support with its anti-immigration and anti-EU message.

It has no MPs but is the third largest party in the opinion polls, with about 12 percent of support, and is expected to do well in May's European Parliament elections.

Comments

Comments are closed.