Blackpool Council ordered to pay out over £100k for discriminating against Christians
Revd Steve Haskett of Lancashire Festival for Hope speaks to the Institute’s Ciarán Kelly after it is revealed Blackpool Council has been ordered to pay out £109k in damages and costs, and apologise, for discrimination against the Christian festival.
In 2018, adverts for Lancashire Festival of Hope were controversially removed by the Council over guest speaker Franklin Graham’s biblical views on marriage and sexuality.
But earlier this year, Manchester County Court ruled “overwhelmingly” in favour of Festival organisers, stating the Council had shown “wholesale disregard for the right to freedom of expression”.