Tim Farron: I regret saying gay sex is not a sin during election campaign
2 min read
Tim Farron has admitted he regrets saying gay sex is not a sin in order to dampen media scrutiny of his Christian beliefs during last year's general election.
The former Liberal Democrat leader repeatedly ducked questions about whether he believed gay sex was a sin in the early stages of the campaign – before eventually clarifying that he did not.
He subsequently quit the post after June’s election, claiming he felt “remaining faithful to Christ” was incompatible with leading his party.
In an interview with a Christian radio station, the MP admitted he had been “pressured” into the taking the position and the answer he had given was “not right”.
"The bottom line is, of course, I did [feel pressured] and there are things - including that - that I said that I regret,” he told Premier Christian Radio.
"All they wanted to do is talk about my Christian beliefs and what they actually meant.
"Foolishly and wrongly, [I] attempted to push it away by giving an answer that, frankly, was not right."
Mr Farron added that he felt “isolated” in an environment where only one of his colleagues understood his devout beliefs.
He said: "I know that others were praying for me but there is a sense in which I was isolated.
"I had a wonderful team around me at HQ but with one exception, there were no Christians; it was not their fault they didn't understand the issue."
The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP also suggested that the nature of most media interviews meant he was not able to communicate his beliefs effectively.
“Maybe I could have explained that, and the biblical teaching on sex and sexuality. But let’s be brutally honest, with the exception of programmes like this you don’t get more than 20 seconds to get your message across.”
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