MSPs: Give us more freedom to vote with our conscience
New polling has revealed more than half of members of the Scottish Parliament belong to a religion or faith group.
The survey was carried out by Total Research on behalf of Holyrood Magazine. In total, 55% of MSPs who responded belong to a a specific religion or faith.
Christianity was the dominant religious group, with eight saying they were Catholic and eight saying they were Protestant. Another eight said Christian without specifying which denomination.
53 MSPs took part in the poll, which gives a fairly rounded snapshot of the whole parliament which has 129 MSPs.
Considerably more than half of respondents - 65% - said they should be given more freedom to vote with their consciences.
Nearly all respondents - 96% - said sectarianism was still an issue in Scotland that needs to be addressed.
One respondent spoke of a 'creeping intolerance' in Scottish politics. They alluded to the negative reaction to SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes when she was open about her religious beliefs when standing for leader earlier this year.
The respondent said:
"There must be space for those of all faiths and none to exercise their conscience on political matters. Scottish society is diverse; tolerance and acceptance must work all ways. It is ironic that some of those in elected office who loudly profess to rail against bigotry and discrimination behave in just that way to colleagues of differing views, religions or philosophies.”
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