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Scottish Catholic church accuses Labour of violating moral law

The Catholic church has launched a devastating onslaught on Labour, accusing the party of “violating moral law” and “losing ethical credibility”, as a new poll reveals the party is losing ground to the SNP in the Glasgow East by-election.

Bishop Joseph Devine, the second most senior Catholic churchman in Scotland, whose diocese covers the constituency, said Labour had lost the electorate’s trust and could no longer take Catholic support for granted. He claimed the party had “repudiated and abandoned Christian truths and values and sought to expel any notion of God from public debate and legislation”.

His intervention is potentially disastrous in a seat with a large number of Catholic voters. Labour’s own canvass returns reveal that, with 11 days to go until polling, its majority has been cut from 13,500 to 2,500.Fearful that losing the seat would spell the end of his premiership, Gordon Brown has ordered Labour MPs in Britain to campaign in the constituency. Party whips will ensure every minister and backbencher is seen pounding the streets.

However, with the party’s majority heavily dependent on the support of Catholic voters, Devine’s condemnation could not have come at a worse time.

Full story at the Sunday Times.