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Anger over Christian Institute anti-gay advert in the Times
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The Christian Institute placed an advert in
the Times on 9 November to coincide with the debate in Parliament on the Civil
Partnership bill. The advert, a full page focus on the Conservative's amendment,
which was heavily defeated, claimed that the majority of people support
extending the Civil Partnership bill to siblings and carers. The advert also
claimed that 84% of people backed the amendment for "ordinary families", despite
figures in The Times suggesting that the overwhelming majority of the general
public backed the bill in its original form. Anger over the advert grew, with MPs calling for an investigation into the
charity. In the Parliamentary debate, MPs noted that the advert could be a
breach of the Institute's remit of the "promotion and furtherance of
Christianity". Alistair Carmichael, Lib Dem MP, said that he was stunned by the
advert from the Institute, which could well go against Charity Commission
regulations. "[The Christian Institute] has acted well outwith its remit in
terms of charitable purposes," he told the House of Commons, adding that the
"government should consider that through the appropriate body". Standing firm
against calls of "free speech", Carmichael added that the advert could well go
against the guidelines given to charities, which they adhere to in order to
receive tax benefits. His stance was supported by Conservative MP John Bercow, who suggested the
funds would have been better used to help solve other more religious based
problems. "Given that the approximate £20,000 cost of that full page
advertisement on page 31 of The Times by the Christian Institute would have
sufficed to feed approximately 5,000 people in Sudan for up to a month, does [Mr
Carmichael] share my astonishment that a supposedly charitable institution
should choose to deploy its resources in that way," he told the Commons.
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