FORMER Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said he regrets saying that gay sex is not a sin.

The committed Christian made the statement during the General Election campaign last year. He came under extreme pressure to clarify his position on the issue, which he had initially attempted to dodge by saying: “We are all sinners.”

Farron has now said he was “foolish” to allow himself to be pressured into saying something which he did not believe was right, in the hope that it would allow him to redirect media attention on to his party’s policies.

Farron quit as LibDem leader after the election, saying he had found it impossible to reconcile the demands of the position with his faith.

In an interview with Premier Christian Radio, Farron was asked whether he felt pressured into saying gay sex was not a sin.

He replied: “The bottom line is of course I did. And there are things – including that – which I said that I regret.”

Farron said that as he tried to promote the LibDem message, the media appeared only to be interested in talking about his Christian faith.

“I foolishly and wrongly attempted to push it away by giving an answer that, frankly, was not right,” he said.

“There was a sense in which I felt ‘I have got to get this off my table’.”