God's anger over gay marriage may be behind floods, says politician
The leader of the Christian People's Alliance has said it is possible the storms that caused widespread flooding in the UK last winter were the result of God's anger over gay marriage.
Sid Cordle made the comments during an appearance on BBC Two's Daily Politics when he was asked his views on a UKIP politician expelled from the party for making similar comments earlier this year.
"A lot of Christians believe that God is angry over gay marriage and God can actually show that anger," Mr Cordle told Daily Politics.
He was speaking ahead of the European elections on May 22, which CPA candidates will be contesting in London and parts of the east and south-east of England.
In the 2009 European elections, the party won 249,493 votes - 1.65 per cent - in a combined list with the Christian Party.
The CPA supports the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union and is conservative on social issues like marriage and abortion.
"There are an enormous number of Christians that have left the Conservative Party over the issue of same-sex marriage, sadly too many of them have gone to UKIP," Mr Cordle told Daily Politics.
"But I think they are beginning to find UKIP doesn't provide a natural home for Christians."
Former UKIP politician David Silvester found himself at the centre of a public row in January when he published a letter in his local newspaper, the Henley Standard, saying he had warned David Cameron back in 2012 that passing gay marriage legislation would be accompanied by "disasters".
"The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war," he wrote.
"But he went ahead despite a 600,000-signature petition by concerned Christians and more than half of his own parliamentary party saying that he should not do so."
Addressing the comments on Daily Politics, Mr Cordle said he would "certainly agree" if Mr Silvester had gone as far as to say the storms had happened because God was angry.
"It is possible," he said, although he added that "the way [Silvester] had said it was completely wrong".
"All Christians believe that God does and can do things with nature," he said.