Ex-leader ‘ashamed’ at gay vote
THE former leader of Sefton Council said he is “ashamed” of Britain after the Government blocked a bid to pardon gay men for long abolished sexual offences.
The House of Commons failed in its efforts to place other gay men alongside World War II codebreaker Alan Turing, who was given a posthumous royal pardon in 2013.
Justice Minister Sam Gyimah talked for enough time to stop a vote being held over proposals.
It brought cries of “shame” from other MPs in the Chamber.
Labour MP Chris Bryant looked close to tears as he joined fellow MPs in urging the Government to pardon all living gay men convicted of crimes that are no longer on the statute books.
But Justice Minister Sam Gyimah spoke for over than 20 minutes at the end of a long debate, a tactic that succeeded in stopping a “Turing Bill”, brought forward by SNP MP John Nicolson, from being put to a vote.
The move provoked fury from former Sefton Council leader and LibDem councillor Tony Robertson.
On his Sefton Focus Blog, he said: “What is happening to my country, it gets more like a place I feel ashamed of by the day.
“Brexit Britain is hardly a tolerant, welcoming place and we are all the worse off for that.
“This appalling story shines the UK Government in a terrible light.
“In a free country we should be celebrating people of all beliefs, sexual orientation and progressive outlooks. “This is not the 1950s!” Last Thursday, the government revealed plans for thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted of out-of-date offences to be posthumously pardoned. But Mr Nicolson brought forward a private member’s bill wh ich sought to go even further, proposing an automatic pardon for the living too, and accused ministers of trying to “hijack” his legislation.
Former Labour minister Chris Bryant talked of gay and bisexual MPs who “faced down” Adolf Hitler, saying that he believed they and others should receive “something that feels like an apology”.
Speaking to reach the time limit for the debate, Mr Gyimah called on Mr Nicolson to withdraw the Bill and work with the Government and LGBT equality campaign group Stonewall.
The Government has said anyone living who has been convicted of such abolished offences can already apply through the Home Office to have their names cleared through a disregard process, which removes any mention of an offence from criminal record checks.
Ministers are also planning to introduce a new statutory pardon for the living in cases where offences have been deleted through the disregard process.
Calls for wider action emerged after World War II code-breaker Alan Turing was given a posthumous royal pardon in 2013 over a conviction in 1952 for “gross indecency” with a 19-year-old man.
Turing was chemically castrated and died two years later from cyanide poisoning.