Politicians should not act on their faith while making laws for the rest of the country, the leader of the Liberal Democrats claims.
Sir Ed Davey shared his views as a Christian senior politician following controversy over the beliefs of SNP leadership hopeful Kate Forbes.
Ms Forbes said last month she would not have voted in favour of same-sex marriage because of her Christian faith.
The finance secretary also drew the ire of party colleagues after saying freedom of practice for faith groups should be “defended” in any ban on so-called gay or trans conversion therapy.
In a further interview, she said having children outside of marriage would be “wrong according to my faith”.
Ms Forbes also confirmed she would not have backed the government’s gender recognition reform bill if she had been at Holyrood at the time of the vote.
‘I don’t think I have to legislate for my faith’
Sir Ed is also a Christian and occasionally attends an Anglican church.
But asked about the backlash against Ms Forbes’ views during the Scottish Liberal Democrats party conference in Dundee on Friday, he insisted politicians must separate their personal views from their actions as law makers.
He said: “When you’re legislating and passing laws and balancing policies and deciding on allocating budgets and all the rest of the things politicians do, they should not be based on faith, certainly not based on your own faith.
“I don’t think my Christian faith tells me I’ve got to legislate for my faith views.”
Sir Ed voted in favour of marriage equality in England and Wales and giving same-sex couples the right to adopt.
He has also been an outspoken supporter of trans rights throughout his leadership.
‘You’ve got to legislate for everybody’
The party boss said: “I’m a Christian in politics and I see lots of people from all political parties who have a faith and strong religious beliefs.
“That’s exactly how it should be.
“It’s always been like that and it shouldn’t surprise people that if you have moral values from your faith, that you often want to do something about those.
“The challenge that all of us of faith face is when you are legislating and developing a policy, I think you have to have your own religious views but I think you do have to have a slight separation when you come to legislate.
“You’ve got to legislate for everybody.”
Ms Forbes has said that people should not be excluded from political office because they are a member of a particular faith.
And she said she would “defend to the hilt everybody’s right in a pluralistic and tolerant society to live and to love free of harassment and fear”.
Beliefs ‘not an issue’
Speaking during a Channel 4 debate on Thursday, Ms Forbes insisted that while “there are some issues where it’s important to allow a conscience vote”, her religious beliefs would not be an issue during policy discussions.
She said: “I’ve certainly said in this contest that I’ve given my honest and solemn pledge to uphold legal protections for every Scot, whether they’re male, female, gay, straight or trans.”
The Free Church of Scotland, which Ms Forbes attends, criticised those attacking her views, saying it is “concerned” about “anti-Christian intolerance”.
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