Friday, October 14, 2011

Rennie attacks church 'vote threat'

Scotland Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has launched an attack on church leaders who he claimed are seeking to exert "control" over Catholic views on gay marriage.

Mr Rennie used his first leader's speech at the Liberal Democrats' autumn conference in Dunfermline to criticise threats by Catholic leaders to invoke a block vote against proposals to allow homosexuals to marry in churches.

He said: "I have the utmost respect for the work of the Catholic Church in so many areas. But to threaten to invoke some sort of block vote is an affront to a liberal democracy and one that we must challenge."

"Many individual Catholics have told me they will not be following their leaders against the issue of equality for same sex marriage." He added: "Challenging an organisation with 800,000 followers may seem difficult but we are prepared to be awkward to stand up for what we believe to be right."

Mr Rennie also attacked "misguided, ineffective and illiberal" plans to create a single police force, which he claimed "are designed to put politicians in central government fully in the driving seat of Scottish policing".

He said the Justice Secretary would be solely responsible for appointments to the police authority, as well as setting the budget and agreeing the policing plan."

He said: "I don't expect ministers - even with these new powers - to start to order individual arrests. That's not how it's going to happen. But it's when a crisis comes that we will first notice."

"If there are major industrial strikes. If there are riots. It's when that happens that we might come to regret that control of the police has come to be bound so tightly to one politician. Absolute power in a time of crisis is a dangerous combination."

Mr Rennie was speaking at the Lib Dems' first Scottish conference since they were reduced to five MSPs at the Scottish Parliament.

The day began with an apology by party president Tim Farron MP for their poor performance in the election. 

He said: "Our results in May were not bad, they were devastating." 

He added: "You lost your seats, because we failed to deliver our message. As your president, I owe you an apology. I take responsibility."