By James Rougvie

DUNDEE EAST MP Iain Luke has joined the condemnation of a religious sect— described by one MP as “fundamentalist thugs”—for their key role in denying the Dundee Maggie’s Centre and sister establishments a share of a £3000 donation.

It was disclosed yesterday that MP John Cryer, who labelled Christian Voice as fundamentalist thugs, has now demanded a Home Office investigation into its affairs.

Christian Voice forced the Maggie’s charity, which provides cancer care in several centres in Scotland, to turn down the donation by threatening demonstrations. The cash was to have come from the proceeds of the controversial hit musical Jerry Springer: The Opera, aired on BBC.

The sect’s protests against what they saw as blasphemy in the show included publishing the home phone numbers of BBC executives.

Mr Luke, whose wife suffered from cancer, is an ardent supporter of the Dundee centre and plans to run in the Dundee half marathon to raise funds for it, said yesterday he was upset and angered that pressure had been put on the charity to return the donation.

“Centres like Maggie’s have to raise as much cash as possible and, although some of my constituents did complain about the musical, I had absolutely no objections to the money coming in.

“I don’t think anyone would object to a charity like that getting money from a source like that when it is doing such a good job.

“I am unhappy about the way this group went about pressuring the charity and forcing them to turn down a vital donation like this.”

He said that he was aware of, and supported, Mr Cryer’s Early Day Motion at Westminster for the Home Office to look into the group and draw attention to what he said were the group’s strong-arm tactics.

Late last year, Christian Voice staged a demonstration at a controversial play in St Andrews, at the same time accessing the contact numbers and addresses via the internet of directors of the Crawford Arts Centre where the play was staged and bombarding them with what were said to be offensive letters.

The group said that the production of Corpus Christi was blasphemous by portraying Christ as a hard-drinking, promiscuous, swearing homosexual, much of which was denied by the play’s team. Fife police later said they were investigating an accusation of blasphemy.

The issue saw the resignation of one of the directors of the centre, Roy McLachlan, who said he could not square his beliefs with the play.

It is understood that Christian Voice claims around 600 members and is a self-styled protest and prayer group led by a former Anglican, Stephen Green, whose mission is to return Britain to the climate of the 1950s, which he says back then was a Christian country.

He is angered by the upcoming royal wedding, and has concerns over globalisation, gay policemen and abortion clinics.