Winston gets it very wrong on gay adoption

UKIP's culture spokesman and PPC for the upcoming Croydon North by-election, Winston McKenzie, has hit the papers again but for all the wrong reasons this time.

McKenzie has likened placing children with gay adoptive parents to child abuse, saying that it deprives them of the chance to grow up with a normal life.  This is absolutely not what the party's line is and certainly isn't a view shared by most UKIP members.

Winston is entitled to his personal opinions on gay couples adopting and if his faith is such that he believes it to be wrong then that is his prerogative but it is entirely inappropriate for him to make such comments during an election campaign when the world's press is looking at the party in the wake of the Rotherham baby snatcher scandal and if he does feel a burning desire to make this type of comment then he should be making it abundantly clear that he is speaking for himself only and not associating the rest of the membership with his views.

To sum up UKIP's position on gay couples adopting in a nutshell: a child needs a loving, secure and stable home and if a gay couple can provide that then that is in the best interests of the child.

Given a choice between a child having no mum and dad and two mums or two dads, you would hope that the majority of people would welcome a gay couple adopting a child that might otherwise spend their formative years in an institution or being passed around a succession of foster parents.  Every child has a right to feel safe and secure and to be bought up by people who care about them and depriving them of that opportunity because a 2,000 year old book about a man who lives in the sky who made the world in 6 days (but not dinosaurs because they hadn't been invented back then) says it's wrong is child abuse, not giving them two parents of the same sex.

I used to like Winston despite his colourful political history because he was full of energy and infectious enthusiasm but I've lost all respect for him over this.  In his role as spokesman on culture Winston has done much to promote a positive relationship with our friends in the Commonwealth but this appalling lack of judgement means he has to go.