Comments on: Exclusive: Gay Tory MP Alan Duncan calls Labour's homophobia accusations 'a sick scare story'

By: Eddy

Eddy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:42:43 +0000

Theotherone, I'm no "Labour Activist" either, mate! But I can see quite clearly where my bread's buttered! I'm not daft, and I don't believe in Tory pie-in-the-sky!

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By: theotherone

theotherone — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:28:22 +0000

I supose this site, unlike other Gay sites, has honest to bgoodness Gay Man posting about the joys of Labour rather than Labour Activists…

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By: Simon Murphy

Simon Murphy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:49:46 +0000

I'm not a Labour activist. I have no intention of voting for Labour at the next election. Having said that it will be a cold day in hell before I would ever vote Tory – those b@stards are as nasty as they've always been. And with PR man 'Dave' Cameron at the helm it's safe to say that nothing they say can be believed.

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By: theotherone

theotherone — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:58:01 +0000

the Labour activists have been active on here again I see…

Smeer, smeer, all is smeer.

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By: George

George — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:56:38 +0000

@ Adam – I'm very far from being tough or nothern or working class background, but I'm also not a tory. Seems you have a few stereotypes in your own mind there.

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By: adam

adam — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:00:41 +0000

so let me get this straight. A bunch of tough northern working class industrialists are accusing the all boys public school, Eveyln Waugh toffs, of not being gay friendly enough.

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By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:45:21 +0000

The Torie's record on gay rights is, to say the least, appalling, and their current policies still haven't changed and don't advance one inch in the right direction.

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By: Robert, ex-pat Brit

Robert, ex-pat Brit — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:42:23 +0000

So Alan Duncan claims he doesn't know any Tory MP's who'd like to roll back equality laws. Hmmmmm, maybe he hasn't spoken to enough Tory Lords or doesn't know any who'd like to do just that including a few from the C of E. Would Cameron take any of them on? NO!

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By: B G

B G — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:30:10 +0000

I think this is now the NewLabour strategy up to next May elections. Labour, the most tribal of all political parties, will be to try and paint the Tories as the 'nasty' party by unfounded slurs and smears? All part of the dark arts of propaganda.

In order to discredit and destroy Cameron's reputation. As this co-ordinated 'Tories are homophobic' attack has shown, Labour will stop at nothing to cling on to power for yet another five years – God forbid!

This has shown us once again it is Labour that is really the nasty party, with their poisonous and vicious mudslinging.

And to deflect attention from Gordon Brown's woeful record of clangers and cockups. His deluded speeches about spending is such fantasy he could teach HG Wells a thing or two about fiction. And his 0% RAISE – how we laughed.

Goebbels said 'If you a lie loud enough and often enough, eventually the people will come to believe it.' It seems NuLabour spin doctors and Brown's inner ring of McBryde, Balls and Mendalson have taken a leaf out of his book.

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By: Span Ows

Span Ows — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:11:04 +0000

I see this is princiaplly the socialist pink news is it? I think many of you need to look at the "modern" Consrvative Party, some of you seem content to imagine the "Tories" as the erroneous stereotypical racist, homophobic colonel – admittedly those sort of people exist (!!!) but what you fail to realise that the bulk of homophobia and racism in the UK comes from working class Labour supporters who would natuarlly turn to the BNP in a crisis of confidence. It would be nice if some of you could read Ian Dale's blog, he is openly gay and openly Conservative: Today he says re Cameron etc: "They DID support the creation of an offence [homophobia]– in fact David Cameron stated on the floor of the House that they would do so – and as a result that part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 passed without division. So no Conservative voted against it."

Wake up! This whole episode is becoming ridiculous and such an obvious political football…"we're more gay-friendly than you, ner ner na ner ner."

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By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:04:01 +0000

The only thing Alan Duncan and the likes managed to do is to make us acknowledge there are open gay politicians representing the Tories. But they will never be able to represent us. They're just a window-dressing exercise with no substance or internal political clout.

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By: tony

tony — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:11:46 +0000

Even if what he says is true and there is no intention to remove the existing rights that Labour put in place, then that is NOT ENOUGH. In order for the Tories to become credible they need clear progressive policies for tackling homophobia. They need to come out in favour of gay marriage and tighter regulation of schools to reduce homophobia.

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By: nicholson

nicholson — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:44:06 +0000

Cameron was 'not voting' to support equality bills as late as 2003 which makes the issue contemporary to the 21st Century and the tory candidate's recent voting history non-commited to equality.
Cameron apologises for the actions of previous 20th Century torys whilst ignoring his own recent 21st century abstentions of support during the passage of the equality bills.
Further, the recent bill concerning IVF treatment solicited drafts from the tories which would have favoured hetrosexual couples over same sex couples in the first instance had it got through.
The evidence shows there is every reason to be concerned about the anti-gay reflex which still holds sway on influential tory minisiters not least the often ideologically confused Cameron himself.
It is simply not acceptable to have effectivly voted against the equality bill, make no mention of it and leave it to your wife to admit liability for you via the press. Cameron's ducking and diving is very much characteristic of someone 'playing politics' with these issues.

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By: George

George — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:20:20 +0000

If the tories want us to seriously believe they are no longer homophobic, then they must surely realise that being cosy with some extreme right-wing parties such as Poland's Law & Justice party, hardly are going to endear confidence in these claims.

I know Mr Cameron has tried t explain this away by saying its all about being anti-europe and not anti-gay/anti-women but really, they've hardly made the best bed-fellows to show how much they've changed. Also, even if the Tory frontbench is serious about not being homophobic, I think they still have a huge amount of work to do in changing the attitudes of their rank-and-file membership.

I've never voted Tory, but I might at least listen more carefully to their policies in the run-up to elections if I really was convinced they are not homophobic and will not "promote" anti-gay legislation or bigotry in the future. As for now, I'm not even slightly convinced of their claims. They also need to sort out their voting record on gay rights, at least this might provide some solid evidence rather than just going by their own claims.

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By: richard

richard — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:11:35 +0000

sorry, correction – "of the guy"……

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By: richard

richard — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:10:21 +0000

I read an interview with Alan Duncan recently in the magazine 'Attitude'. Whilst I pretty much like what I see of the gay, reading between the lines some of the interview material seemed to point to a deep and chronic shame-base. Indeed, some of the legitimacy that Duncan afforded to his own parties homophobia was implicit, but nonetheless apparent. Therefore I do not think that Duncan is in the best position to be aware of implicit cultural homophobia (and perhaps not his own).

Thomas seems very sure that the election has already been fought and lost (by Labour). I am not so sure. I also welcome Conservatives displaying this cocksure attitude – famously, it did not bear out for Neil Kinnock.

I think Labour have the potential to make good headway before the next election – there are plenty of major issues upon which they can show action. The conservatives are a fairly weak opposition – and present little substance. Don't get me wrong – for me, practically, Labour is the lesser of two evils, but I certainly do not trust the Conservatives as far as I could throw them: I would just have to read their underlying party prinicples and philosophy to know what a repugnant position they try to defend.

So, are labour trying to exploit tory homophoiba? Yes, I think they are….however, I think it is worth exploiting. It is not just the gay community who will be interested in this. There are plenty of voters who judge the values of a political party with how well it relates to minority interests. Yes – on further progress with equality – labour seem confused, misinformed, stifling and stagnant; but the conservatives (as a whole) are indifferent – equality is not compatible with 'survival of the fittest'.

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By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:46:57 +0000

Tories? Never ever ever ever ever ever ever. That is The Party who is cosying up with homophobia all the time, that's part and parcel of their ethos. They done nothing to embrace gay people, nothing, zero, zilch. The conservative party is a party wanting to conserve the sexist prejudice which still plagues our societies. Gay people who vote for them are stupid.

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By: Eddy

Eddy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:18:47 +0000

Simon Murphy, you are so right in what you say above.

What I find extraordinary is that some gay men and women are so damned gullible. They have little appreciation of what the British Conservative Party really is, from what it springs. Gay men and women who come from or live and work in places west and north of Watford have little or no understanding of the privileged public-school-rooted old-boy fellowship that is the basis of the Tory Party. Hence they are sucked in by the superficial slickness and snappiness of PR man Dave Cameron. He acts his little cotton socks off trying to look sincere while apologising for the hatred of gays expressed by earlier Conservatives . . . and gullible gays and lesbians are sucked in by the act.

What gay men and women have to keep in their heads is that there are only THREE out de-closeted gay MPs in the entire Tory Party at the moment, and that of this very week only SEVEN are SAID to be CONSIDERING coming out, in time for the next election. These numbers say it all. Queers, to Tories, are an embarrassment, an unwanted baggage that has come with the modern age. Wake up, people!

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By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:10:19 +0000

Well Alan, I somehow don't think that your presence in the Tory party is going to do much to change the well entrneche3d homophobic doctrines that govern your party. You can try but I don't think you will succeed. Homophobia is a sickness of vast anti-humanitarian proportions. It is against all the human rights legislation in Europe and effectively spits in the face of the European Union.

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By: Brian Burton

Brian Burton — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:40:50 +0000

Thomas,
You seem to live in the hope of a future Cameron Utopia! Well, there 'aint no such thing as Utopia. Cameron ia as tricky as a cage load of monkeys (Just like all Politicians as we've seen!) So, Gay voters see through your Leader too. Joining up with Europian Homophobic parties? Yes, we see through him!

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