A BISHOP investigated by police for comments he made on homosexuality was not questioned to see if he had been accurately reported, it was revealed this week.The Bishop of Chester, the Rt Rev Peter Forster, made the claim about the incident, which took place in 2003, during a debate on the Government’s Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill in the House of Lords on Monday, March 3.
Tory peer Lord Waddington, who brought up the issue, said there was nothing to show that the police are “very good at distinguishing between legitimate comment and language calculated or intended to stir up hatred.”
He pointed to the case of Bishop Forster, who he said was the subject of an investigation by Cheshire police after he commented in his local paper on research showing some homosexuals reoriented to heterosexuality.
Lord Waddington said: “He was never questioned by the police but that there was a police investigation is beyond doubt, and it was sufficiently serious to involve discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service.
“We know that because the Cheshire constabulary issued a statement in these terms: ‘The Crown Prosecution Service has been consulted with at length, and Cheshire Police are satisfied that no criminal offences have been committed, as current public order legislation does not provide specific offences based on sexuality.’
“That seems remarkably like saying that the police thought that if this proposed offence had been on the statute book, the right reverend Prelate could have been for the high jump.”
Bishop Forster told peers: “The police seemed to assume that the newspaper report was accurate without making any attempt whatever to check with me whether it was.
“Therefore, I assure Lord Waddington that at the time I did not feel particularly liable for the high jump because I believed that any offence was caused by the reporter. However, I think that the police should at least have checked whether the report was accurate before engaging in media activity.”
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