Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has repeatedly refused to say whether he thinks abortion is “wrong”.
Put to him that many women would "want to know if you think they’ve done something that’s wrong", Mr Farron told Sky News' Sophy Ridge: "I believe in choice – women should have access to abortion that is legal and is safe."
He added: "My motive in all of this is all about compassion towards these women and to say, as I did 10 years ago, that women should be able to make that choice under law, that abortion should be safe and legal.”
Asked again if he believed that abortion is wrong, Mr Farron, who has made no secret of his Christian faith, replied: “Well I believe that women should have access under law which is safe and legal and I think that’s the critical issue”.
Pressed further, the Liberal Democrat leader angrily responded: “I think people think it’s bizarre that journalists and others spend their time banging on about someone’s faith”.
Instead, Mr Farron said, the topic of focus should be on “things that will affect our children in the future”, and took a swipe at Theresa May’s “dementia tax” care plan. It would include the value of people’s houses as a determining factor in how much they should pay for care at home.
He said that the tax is "unspeakably heartless" and calls it a "specific attack on those who end up getting dementia".
This is not the first time Mr Farron has been questioned about his beliefs. He was recently engulfed in controversy when asked whether he thought homosexuality was a sin.
The interview prompted discussion online, with one Twitter user calling it a “total witch hunt” and another who said focusing on his faith is “silly…he’s not allowed to be a devout Christian and a liberal?”
One Twitter user criticised Mr Farron because he “didn’t answer the question”.
Another pointed out that he “did nothing to dispel the notion” that it was wrong, while a third said there was a potential “conflict of interest” in being leader of the Liberal Democrats, and being a devout Christian.
The Liberal Democrats have denied claims that their party leader is opposed to abortion following the emergence of a 2007 interview in which he said the medical procedure was “too widely available”.
The Independent has approached Mr Farron for comment but none had arrived at the time of publication.
