Philippa Stroud, our candidate in Sutton and Cheam, has been under attack today following a front page Observer story, that I linked to from this morning's newslinks.
I know Philippa incredibly well. I recruited her to run the Centre for Social Justice. I regard her as one of my closest and dearest friends. She has dedicated her life to helping the homeless, people with drug addictions and other very vulnerable people. I didn't want to draw attention to the story but the coverage across the internet has made it hard to avoid.
She has issued this statement (my emphasis):
“I make no apology for being a committed Christian. However, it is categorically untrue that I believe homosexuality to be an illness and I am deeply offended that The Observer has suggested otherwise. I have spent 20 years working with disturbed people who society have turned their back on and are not often supported by state agencies; drug addicts, alcoholics, the mentally ill and the homeless that I and my charitable friends in the public sector have tried to help over the years. The idea that I am prejudiced against gay people is both false and insulting.”
Iain Dale has come to Philippa's defence here.
Newspapers like the Observer complain at the lack of quality MPs but are they really surprised when they engage in gutter journalism against candidates like Philippa?
Tim Montgomerie
As with all threads on Seats and candidates, comments will not appear until I have approved them. I will not publish comments that include new or recycled allegations.
