The Liberal Democrats are being sued for religious discrimination after allegedly rejecting a candidate because of his Catholic views.

Robert Flello, who was the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South until losing the seat in the 2017 election, defected to the Lib Dems last month after disagreeing with the hard-Left politics of Jeremy Corbyn.

On November 9, he was selected to stand in this week’s general election for the Lib Dems in the same seat. But just days later he was told by party officials that his views on abortion and same sex marriage were “not those that would be expected of a liberal” and it was therefore “not appropriate” for him to represent them.

Mr Flello is now suing Jo Swinson’s party for discriminating against him and his faith, accusing them of creating an “intolerant” party “where Catholics are not welcome.”

Mr Flello, 53, who was an atheist until converting to Catholicism aged 41, told the Telegraph: “I think what it comes down to is that someone senior within the Lib Dems does not like practising Catholics. It seems that you can be a Christian as long as you are a compliant Christian who goes along with what they say. But if you in anyway want to defend the faith, then that’s it. Your card is marked and out you go.”