Free Republic

A council election candidate has resigned from Britain's ruling Conservative Party with immediate effect, apologizing for posting anti-Islamic and anti-gay comments on Twitter."I have let myself and my party down," David Bishop, a candidate in Brentwood South in Essex, said in a statement Sunday. "In order to avoid any further embarrassment, I have taken the decision to resign from the Conservative party with immediate effect. I will not be asking anyone to vote for me on 22 May. Last month, Bishop, who is also a local DJ, tweeted, "#Islam 'the religion of peace' & rape," referring to the arrest of...

People who call gay sex ‘disgusting’ will be allowed to stay in the UK Independence Party. Nigel Farage defended party members with ‘old-fashioned’ views about homosexuality, as he warned that with the government passing same-sex weddings ‘nobody knows where it will end up’. MPs last night backed the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, but Mr. Farage said ministers were ‘picking a war with middle England’. …

Ukip is to drop its opposition to gay marriage, party leader Nigel Farage revealed today. The move risks angering disaffected Tories who switched to Ukip after same sex weddings were legalised by the coalition, but Mr Farage insisted: ‘We have absolutely no problem with anybody.’ He said that as part of a review of Ukip’s manifesto, which he has dismissed as ‘drivel’, he would not campaign for gay weddings to be banned. Ukip previously said civil partnerships were a ‘common sense’ way for gay and lesbian couples to register their commitment ‘in a formal way’. But it warned: Gay marriage...