Changes

==Richard Page==

==Richard Page==

A Christian magistrate removed from his position by the Lord Chancellor in March 2016 for saying that children do better with a mother and father.  

A Christian magistrate removed from his position by the Lord Chancellor in March 2016 for saying that children do better with a mother and father.  

Page, who served as a magistrate for 15 years, was interviewed in March 205 by BBC reporter Caroline Wyatt as part of a debate about the marginalisation of Christians in public life. During the interview, he explained how he was disciplined the previous year after a court hearing where he could not agree with his colleagues that placing a child into the care of a same-sex couple would be in the child’s “best interests”.

Page, who served as a magistrate for 15 years, was interviewed in March 2015 by BBC reporter Caroline Wyatt as part of a debate about the marginalisation of Christians in public life. During the interview, he explained how he was disciplined the previous year after a court hearing where he could not agree with his colleagues that placing a child into the care of a same-sex couple would be in the child’s “best interests”.

He told the BBC: “My responsibility as a magistrate, as I saw it, was to do what I considered best for the child, and my feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and woman who were the adoptive parents.”

He told the BBC: “My responsibility as a magistrate, as I saw it, was to do what I considered best for the child, and my feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and woman who were the adoptive parents.”

He did not say that he was totally against all cases of same-sex adoption or intended to take children away from homosexual parents, only that where it was possible to give a child a mother and father, it was the best option from the point of view of the child. After the interview, his views were denounced to the Lord Chancellor, who used his powers to remove him. The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) confirmed that Page was removed from the magistracy for this reason. A statement from the JCIO said: “The Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice found that Mr Page’s comments on national television would have caused a reasonable person to conclude he was biased and prejudiced against single-sex adopters”. It added that the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice “considered this to be serious misconduct which brought the magistracy into disrepute” (sic).  

He did not say that he was totally against all cases of same-sex adoption or intended to take children away from homosexual parents, only that where it was possible to give a child a mother and father, it was the best option from the point of view of the child. After the interview, his views were denounced to the Lord Chancellor, who used his powers to remove him. The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) confirmed that Page was removed from the magistracy for this reason. A statement from the JCIO said: “The Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice found that Mr Page’s comments on national television would have caused a reasonable person to conclude he was biased and prejudiced against single-sex adopters”. It added that the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice “considered this to be serious misconduct which brought the magistracy into disrepute” (sic).  

Mr Page responded by calling the judgement ‘Illiberal and intolerant’.

Mr Page responded by calling the judgement ‘Illiberal and intolerant’.

Reacting to the news, Mr Page said: “I am surprised that the Lord Chancellor should seemingly pander to the new political orthodoxy when what it amounts to is social experimentation on the lives of the most vulnerable children in our communities. To punish me and to seek to silence me for expressing a dissenting view is deeply shocking. It is vital the family law courts always have in mind the best interests of the children.” <ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/news/jp-sacked-for-saying-mum-and-dad-best-to-adopt-kids/?e110316</ref><ref>JP sacked for voicing his views against same-sex adoption bbc.co.uk, 10 March 2016</ref>

Reacting to the news, Mr Page said: “I am surprised that the Lord Chancellor should seemingly pander to the new political orthodoxy when what it amounts to is social experimentation on the lives of the most vulnerable children in our communities. To punish me and to seek to silence me for expressing a dissenting view is deeply shocking. It is vital the family law courts always have in mind the best interests of the children.” <ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/news/jp-sacked-for-saying-mum-and-dad-best-to-adopt-kids/?e110316</ref><ref>JP sacked for voicing his views against same-sex adoption bbc.co.uk, 10 March 2016</ref>

==Mr and Mrs Bull==

==Mr and Mrs Bull==