Carswell: Crown Prosecution Service Run by ‘Secular Extremists’

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is being run by “secular extremists” who do not share the vales of the general public, UKIP’s Douglas Carswell has said.

Speaking after the CPS decided to block an attempt to prosecute two doctors for agreeing to abortions purely on the basis of the child’s gender, Carswell said the decision showed a wide gap between the assumptions of officialdom and the concerns of the public.

The politician, who is standing for re-election as MP for Clacton, voice his concern in a letter to a voter, saying: “Part of the problem is that the sort of people who work for the CPS tend to be open to what I think one might describe as secular extremism.”

“I do not think they share our values and I think we need far reaching reform of the Criminal Justice System to make sure that public prosecutors are properly accountable to the public.”

Speaking to the Telegraph, he stood by his comments, adding: “It is just extraordinary: whenever you hear quango-crats talking about the ‘public interest’ you can guarantee the public has no say.

“There may well be a case for saying that there is no public interest but who decides? Who guards the guardians? The CPS quite often.

“This case shows that despite the evidential case being made, they decided that the best thing for the public was not to prosecute. Who in the public has any say in that?

“You don’t have to be a religious fundamentalist to be uneasy about this, I think a lot of people feel very uneasy about this.”

Last month, MPs voted against an amendment that would have explicitly outlawed abortion on the grounds of gender alone. Speaking in favour of the ban, Conservative MP Fiona Bruce said that the 1967 Abortion Act was being “pushed way beyond the boundaries” of how it should be interpreted, however MPs voted against the measure following pressure from Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Carswell’s comments come as a new website is launched telling voters where parliamentary candidates stand on issues such as abortion, assisted suicide and human embryo experiments. Wheredotheystand.org.uk is an activist-funded initiative that focuses on right-to-life issues, documenting the views of every Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidate in the country.