WITHIN hours of telling the other half that I’d sooner dip my dick in the Magimix than vote Tory in the upcoming general election, up pops a report in the Daily Telegraph which says that Conservative leader David Cameron has pledged to review Britain’s abortion laws and stop assisted suicide in “moves designed to place religious issues at the forefront of his campaign”.
David Cameron: 'Trust me, I'm a Tory'
In an interview in the Catholic Herald – one that he requested – the oily Cameron, who has been frantically trying to convince the electorate that his is no longer the “nasty party”, said:
My own view is that we do need to review the abortion limit. I think that the way medical science and technology have developed in the past few decades does mean that an upper limit of 20 or 22 weeks would be sensible.
I’ll continue to support a modest reduction in the abortion limit. But what’s really important here is that Members of Parliament are always allowed a free vote on this issue.
Cameron also reiterated his opposition to assisted suicide. The Crown Prosecution Service recently published guidelines which meant that those helping people wanting to die were less likely to face charges.
Cameron dished out this frightful tosh:
My personal view is that if assisted dying is legalised, there is a danger that terminally ill people may feel pressurised into ending their lives if they feel they’ve become a burden on loved ones. I don’t believe anyone should be put in this position. So no, I don’t support any change in the law.
He also enraged gay groups by saying that faith schools would also be able to teach sex education as they wished.
I do think that sex and relationship education is an important part of learning about responsibility. But schools should be allowed to teach it in a way that’s consistent with their beliefs, and parents should be free to decide whether or not their children should take part in these lessons.
Yesterday, to the fury of many, the Conservatives successfully blocked Labour plans to introduce compulsory sex education in schools, a measure which was due to be rushed through Parliament before the election.
Condemning the move, George Broadhead, secretary of the gay humanist charity, the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT), said:
Mr Cameron has claimed to be supportive of gay and lesbian rights, but doesn’t he realise that if faith schools are permitted to teach that same-sex sexual practices are morally wrong, it will do irreparable harm to their lesbian and gay pupils and cause an increase in bullying?
He added:
Faith schools now make up one third of the total number and all three main political parties intend to expand them further. Unsurprisingly, a Stonewall survey revealed that a higher proportion of anti-gay bullying occurs in these schools than in others. How is this going to be tackled if such schools are permitted to teach pupils that lesbian and gay sexual relationships are sinful?
Faith issues dominate American election campaigns and this is the latest indication of the growing use of this style of campaigning by the Conservatives.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
April 8th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
He’s just lost my vote. He appears to be turning into an American Republican politician.
Not very smart to pander to the religious, an element of society that is rapidly shrinking, and pissing off a an element that is growing rapidly.
April 8th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
I thought that was the young Ken Dodd there for a moment, but I’m NOT tickled, madam!
Why does none of this surprise me in the least?
April 8th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Who else watched Theresa May’s embarrassing performance on Question Time last night? She is supposed to be one of Cameron’s “big hitters” and she was all over the place. She couldn’t defend his economic policies (if he does indeed have any), and it’s obvious that the Grayling episode – and Dave’s handling of it – has been an absolute disaster for them. I’m ignoring the polls now and putting my money on Labour to actually win the election. I’ve been saying for a long time that the Tories have been counting their chickens, but much as I recoil from the thought of another five years of Harperson, Balls and Cooper, I think that that is what is in store for us!
April 9th, 2010 at 1:56 am
I’m sorry, but I’m in the “What the fuck?????” mode. Why the hell would parents pay to put a gay child in a religious school? And if you think gay rights are going to be enforced in religious schools, you are dreaming. More likely to feed Muhammed a carnitas taco.
Like every other politician, he gathers with a group of advisers and maps a strategy of which voters he can appeal to. He doesn’t believe the shit he’s saying, nor will he abide by it if elected. Just be a good voter, and bend over and take it up the ass dry, like every other election.
NeoWolfe
April 9th, 2010 at 7:42 am
NeoWolfe: We already have “Faith Schools” (and “Academies” – which amount to the same thing when “sponsored” by religious donors), so we have good reason to fear their spread, as both major parties are desperate to find ways to provide public services on the cheap now. (And I do realize that the private cash that goes into these institutions is paltry!). However, what on earth do you mean by “not putting gay children in religious schools”? Do you really believe that religious parents don’t have gay children, or that they are going to ask their offspring whether they are gay, and in that case whether they feel that the ethos of the school is quite what they want?
April 9th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Hmm, the line on abortion says nothing whatsoever. Typical politician.
April 9th, 2010 at 9:15 am
I’m jaded by politics and didn’t vote last time.
The tories got my eye with scrapping labour’s NI increase but I can’t vote for them now.
Looks like i’ll vote for the novelty candidate.
April 9th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Sounds more like Cameron’s desperate attempt to court the vote of the right wing bigots who have formed their own religion based political parties. Cameron must be worried as usually the likes of Birdshit Green and chums vote Tory.
As for putting Gay children into religious schools: this is just the sort of thing religious zealot type parents would do to try and “cure” their child.
April 9th, 2010 at 10:16 am
Whatever you do don’t spoil your vote, that will just result in a pledge to make the voting form easier so even you can manage to use it properly. Better to vote raving looney (do you have a candidate? http://www.omrlp.com will tell you) so you can actually show on the stats as a protest vote.
April 9th, 2010 at 10:33 am
I know this is an old one but I still love the saying….
It doesn’t matter who you vote for,the government still get in.
April 9th, 2010 at 11:02 am
I’ve heard of one of these academies in the North West that teaches creationism as the only explanation of our origins.
Leading on from Barriejohn’s comment, presumably any organisation will be able to set up a school (if I understand Cameron correctly) so I can only hope that organisations such as the NSS will look into that. That said the mere existence of these faith academies causes untold damage that a few secular schools won’t be able to fix.
Having seen America’s religious politics I really fear what is to come.
April 9th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
If you read the full interview in the Catholic Herald, you will also see that Cameron told them that he believed in the literal truth of the resurrection.
Liar or lunatic?
You decide.
April 9th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
I thought that, too, Angela – they’re daft enough to believe that it would work!
April 9th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
David Cameron humours the mentally ill – sorry, answers questions posed by readers of the Catholic Herald (full text):
http://www.catholicherald.co.u.....0552.shtml
Do you believe in the Resurrection?
- John Myers
“Yes, but I sometimes struggle with the big leaps.”
Like believing that it happened at all?
April 9th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
…and he wants to bring back fox hunting. Sounds like Baxter Basics (cf. Viz) is ready to ride again…
April 9th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
@RubberBaron
…and he wants to bring back fox hunting. Sounds like Baxter Basics (cf. Viz) is ready to ride again…
“what are you doing with an arseful of unleaded!”