The decision of the three main UK political parties to ban their candidates from signing up to a declaration of their Christian beliefs has been condemned 
by the Catholic Church in Scotland.
Leading Christian leaders, including Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the primate of the Catholic Church in Scotland and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, drew up the Westminster 2010 Declaration which sought to turn the Christian vote into a more unified political force.
The idea was to ask candidates to sign up to the document, which supports family values and the right of life.
Now it has emerged that party leaders have forbidden candidates to sign up to the Declaration.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said: “It is a matter of some concern and disappointment that the national leaders of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have barred their candidates from signing this declaration.
“It is interesting to note that the Scottish National Party has quite rightly described it as a matter of conscience.”
The Church’s response comes as Cardinal O’Brien today unveils a questionnaire for candidates in Scotland asking them to indicate where they stand on issues of faith.
The document asks candidates about their positions on the rights of the unborn, support for the family, justice, religious freedom and euthanasia and assisted suicide.
The Westminster 2010 document was based on an American initiative last year called the Manhattan Declaration.
The decision by party leaders was revealed to the Scotsman newspaper by one of the organisers of the declaration, who described it as “shocking interference on matters of individual conscience”.
Candidates have contacted the Westminster 2010 organisers to apologise for not signing and there are allegations that some were leaned on not to put their names to the document.
A spokeswoman for the Conservative Party confirmed that candidates had been advised not to sign Westminster 2010.
A Labour Party spokesman claimed that the ban was part of a wider policy for candidates.
The Liberal Democrats denied there was a ban on candidates signing it.
