NHS director who was fired for his views on family loses appeal
A Christian sacked as a non-executive NHS director and magistrate after saying that children do best with a mother and father has lost his appeal. Richard Page now intends to take his case to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal ruled that his sacking was lawful on Friday.
Page was fired after commenting in a 2016 TV interview with Piers Morgan that he had been discriminated against for his Christian beliefs on parenting while presiding over an adoption case.
In his judgment, Lord Justice Underhill said that the doctor’s views on same-sex marriage and “homosexual activity” might cause “offence”. The judgment went on to say that removal from his position in the NHS was justified because his answers to Morgan’s questions might “deter mentally ill gay people in the Trust’s catchment area from engaging with its services.”
The judgment suggested that Mr Page should have “declined to answer” questions on his beliefs. It also refuted the argument of Mr Page’s lawyers that firing him risks self-censorship on sexual morality by people in public office.
Source: christiantoday.com
