The leader of Scotland’s Roman Catholics was last night accused of “lying” in comments that he made about controversial embryo research legislation.

Professor Lord Robert Winston, the Labour peer, made the claim as Gordon Brown came under unprecedented pressure to cave in over the issue.

Winston, one of the world’s foremost authorities on human reproductive health, said that the cardinal was deliberately misleading the public.

He told The Sunday Times: “His [O'Brien's] statements are lying. They are misleading and I’m afraid that when the church for good motives tells untruths it brings discredit upon itself.

“I have huge respect for the Catholic church, which does great good, but it will be destroying its probity with overblown statements of this kind.”

• Full story at the Sunday Times.

• Filed under Gordon Brown, Roman Catholic Church, Scottish Christian News Monitor, Social Policy.