Remember these comments:
“if you look at the case of ‘Should a Christian hotel owner have the right to exclude a gay couple from their hotel?’ I took the view that if it’s a question of somebody who’s doing a B&B in their own home, that individual should have the right to decide who does and who doesn’t come into their own home”. The words of Chris Grayling MP.
In other words he suggested that a gay couple should allowed to be turned away if the B&B owner’s didn’t want these ‘gays’ in their house. Hmm…
Douglas Murray writing in the Telegraph highlights one problem with this assertion:
“A man owns a B&B. He is also a Christian. In common with many Christians he believes that the Bible is the inspiration for living, but not a textbook….He also recognises that an obsession with gays is something which a particularly intolerant, unchristian and backward sub-set of Christianity, largely comprising black Africans, holds dear. Therefore he decides it is against his religious beliefs to entertain black African Christians at his guesthouse because he does not like their beliefs, attitudes or practices. There is no reason, in Grayling’s analysis, why this should not happen”
Discrimination, as Murray goes to length to point out, can apply to sexuality, ethnicity, class or any other form of prejudice. If we let the standards slip on one there is little theoretical reason to protect the others.
Equally, Grayling’s comments also puts him on the wrong side of the law. Under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 no-one should be refused goods or services on the grounds of their sexuality. Grayling’s comments stand in stark contrast to this regulation.
It with just a little alarm then that Grayling has been appointed as the new Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice replacing Ken Clarke. Not only does he hold these discriminatory views but as Michael Crick points out:
A non-lawyer with a healthy dose of prejudice…was there really no one better? Apparently there was:
So, is there any good news in this reshuffle? Well, perhaps it is best summed up by the following tweet:
The full cabinet is:
Prime Minister: David Cameron
Deputy Prime Minister: Nick Clegg
Chancellor of the Exchequer: George Osborne
Foreign Secretary: William Hague
Home Secretary: Theresa May
Justice Secretary: Chris Grayling
Work and Pensions Secretary: Iain Duncan Smith
Education Secretary: Michael Gove
Health Secretary: Jeremy Hunt
Transport Secretary: Patrick McLoughlin
Environment Secretary: Owen Paterson
Northern Ireland Secretary: Theresa Villiers
Minister without Portfolio: Ken Clarke
Leader of the House: Andrew Lansley
Chief Whip: Andrew Mitchell
Only two and half years until the general election…
Hynd's Blog 
Pingback: ‘The greenest government yet’ claim is melting – a bit like our arctic sea ice | Hynd's Blog
I’m beginning to suggest that party-based democracy isn’t the answer. There’s people in that cabinet for whom I’d gladly vote (Hague, IDS, Clarke, Cameron at a push) and there are those who I wouldn’t touch with a bargepole. But It seems to me that the next election will see a reactionary swing towards Labour by the same people who (finally) voted them out last time. This is like voluntarily jumping into a pit full of pig shit, because you know for a fact that you don’t want to jump into a pit full of dog shit.
I like some of the Green Party’s policies – I like some Conservative policies – I’m not actually aware of any Labour policies as they only seem to come up with reactive stuff. But why do I have to put up with an unacceptable amount of chaff to get to the wheat?
Maybe it’s time we thought about a more direct democracy – voting for individual ideas within a given set of categories (defence, energy, agriculture, transport etc) instead of parties?
LikeLike
“Only two and half years until the general election…”
And then what?
LikeLike
Nothing…I suspect. But, neither can we give up. Our representative democracy is the best tool we have to bring about change so we have to keep plugging away at it until someone comes up with a better idea….got any suggestions?
LikeLike