Tony Blair - Catholic

[Beach Hut]

appointed as what?

Clergyman

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

You mean John Reid that many were touting as potential opponent to Gordon Brown as Labour Leader? Then this whole debate is null and void as there's obviously no problem.

I agree. I think a Catholic could quite happily be elected as Prime Minister. I suspect Tony Blair simply doesn't want to cause a fuss by converting publicly while in office. He apparently goes to mass in Westminster and near Chequers quite often anyway.

 

[ROSM]

Clergyman

and you ended up with Ernest as a friend

 

[Beach Hut]

and you ended up with Ernest as a friend

Yes, stranger things have happened

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

Wasn't Gummer the one who made his daughter eat a hamburger at the height of the BSE crisis ?

One and the same. I know the bloke who was his press adviser at the time, too. He's now a spokesman for Cumbria police....

(Helen Liddell was the Scottish Secretary between 2001 and 2005 by the way).

 

[supaseagull]

Apparently TB will become a catholic after he has left Downing Street - Cheri is, as must the kids having gone to the London Oratory.

But why would he wait to leave office - is there a stigma attached to being catholic, or would it have affected his popularity ?

Would it make any difference to anyone on NSC had he converted to catholicism before becoming PM - or whilst in office. Does it change your view of someone if you discover they are catholic ?

It looks odd to me - like he can only follow his conscience once he leaves office.

This is fixtures. He turned Catholic in 1999

 

[Dandyman]

BURN HIM.

 

[Gully]

The religion thing does crop up from time to time, apparently it is why Chris Patton (a practicing RC) was given the job of being the last Governor of Hong Kong...the Tories didn't want the religion thing to rear its ugly head if he chose to challenge for the leadership of the party (and thus the office of Prime Minister), there had already been enough embarassments over their selective selction process, one more would probably have sunk them forever. By having Chris Patton well out of the way they thus avoided lots of difficult questions, he would probably have made a fairly decent leader of their party and a far better than average PM.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I thought he'd lost his seat when he was sent to Hong Kong.

 

[Gully]

Umm, memory getting a bit vague here, maybe he had...however, didn't the Tories have a practice of putting up any high profile people, who had lost their seats, as candidates for the next by-election to a safe seat...he wouldn't have had to wait too long until some Bufton-Tufton MP from the shires popped his clogs.

 

[bailey]

Wasn't Chris Patten Major's campaign manager who put so much work into getting Major re-elected that it cost him his seat?

In return Major gave him the HK Governor role, which was to be a high profile role due to the hand-over to the Chinese.

 

[Mtoto]

Patten lost in Bath before going to Hong Kong, and though he'd have been able to get a seat if he'd wanted one, he would never have stood a chance of the Tory leadership - he couldn't have been any more wet if you'd thrown him off the pier.

He was probably to the left of Blair on many issues, and might well have been a better leader given the chance.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Is that can't - or is it convention ?

I am not sure they can afford to be picky.

It's officially the law of England.

The Act of Settlement 1701.

The Act provided that the throne would pass to the Electress Sophia of Hanover — a granddaughter of James I of England, VI of Scotland, niece of Charles I of England and Scotland — and her Protestant descendants. Only the descendants of Sophia who were Protestant, and had not married a Roman Catholic, could succeed to the throne. Roman Catholics and those who marry Roman Catholics are barred from ascending the throne "for ever".

An antiquated biggoted law.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Does B.Liar's conversion to Catholicism mean he gets to burn in hellfire foreverandever while being poked with forks by Satan and all his little elves? If so, then YEAH! Bring it fookin' ON!

 

[dougdeep]

 

[Tom Bombadil]

It's officially the law of England.

The Act of Settlement 1701.



An antiquated biggoted law.

No it's not -you've got to watch them cafflics - sneaky buggers all of em.

 

[Dandyman]

It's officially the law of England.

The Act of Settlement 1701.



An antiquated biggoted law.

Or alternatively given that the head of state is unelected an Act that means the monarch owes their loyalty to their subjects not to a bead juggling foreign priest.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Or alternatively given that the head of state is unelected an Act that means the monarch owes their loyalty to their subjects not to a bead juggling foreign priest.

I'm at a loss to understand how anyone can interpret the Act of Settlement as providing for the monarch to owe loyalty to their subjects.

The Act of Settlement 1701.

The Act provided that the throne would pass to the Electress Sophia of Hanover

 

[Dandyman]

I'm at a loss to understand how anyone can interpret the Act of Settlement as providing for the monarch to owe loyalty to their subjects.

[/B][/QUOTE]


I will maintain the Protestant religion and defend the liberties of England - Prince Billy of Orange 1688

 

[mona]

Or alternatively given that the head of state is unelected an Act that means the monarch owes their loyalty to their subjects not to a bead juggling foreign priest.

In the wording that sounds more like a Glasgow Hun/Rangers fan than Dandyman.