THEGAYUK

Tag: Conservatives

Read the latest news and analysis of the Conservative party in the UK. Browse THEGAYUK’s entire archive on news about the Tories.

  • Calls for anti-gay marriage MP Anne Marie Morris to resign after vile racist

    Calls for anti-gay marriage MP Anne Marie Morris to resign after vile racist

    Anne Marie Morris is under fire for using a racist phrase during a Brexit debate.

    Conservative MP Anne Marie Morris who voted against same-sex marriage in 2013 and was absent from a number of other same-sex marriage votes, is facing calls for her resignation after uttering a vile, racist phrase during a Brexit discussion which was recorded by a journalist in attendance.

    The recording was unearthed by HuffPost today who said that the Brexit-backing MP uttered the disgraceful phrase, which has its origins in the late 19th and 20th century, as she described the idea of leaving the EU with no deal.

    Ms Morris has offered an “unreserved” apology saying she was sorry for “any offence caused” by her “entirely unintentional” racism. The MP used the phrase, “And then we get to the real n***** in the woodpile which is in two years what happens if there is no deal?

    A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said they are “urgently investigating” stating that they were aware of the reports.

    Numerous people have called for Ms Morris to have the whip removed from her, which would mean that she would effectively stand as an independent candidate for her constituency.

    Guardian columnist Owen Jones has effectively called for the MP’s expulsion.

    Ms Morris assumed office in May 2010 and managed to increase her majority in the 2017 General Election from 11288 to 17160 votes.

     

  • Britain’s highest ranking LGBT+ politician sends a message before Pride In London

    Conservative politician, Justine Greening the UK’s highest ranking openly LGBT+ MP has reached out to the community before the UK’s biggest Pride tomorrow.

    Minister for Women and Equalities Justine Greening said:

    “I am delighted to support this year’s Pride celebrations, a key moment to show how far LGBT people have come in the fight for equality. It is also a chance to showcase our country’s values of tolerance, acceptance and openness to the rest of the world.

    “It is also a reminder of the work we still have to do to stamp out homophobic bullying and hate crime, which can have such a damaging impact on LGBT people’s lives. That is why we’re working with a range of partners such as Stonewall, Barnardo’s and LGBT Consortium to stamp out anti-LGBT bullying in our schools. We are educating young people about accepting and respecting each other’s individuality with a £3m anti-LGBT bullying programme and we are investing £300,000 as part of the cross-government Hate Crime Action Plan in programmes to tackle hate crime in communities.

    “I hope everyone across the country has a fantastic time celebrating Pride and the progress we’ve made in the fight for equality, as we build a fairer, more equal future for everyone.”

  • Conservatives sign a deal with anti-LGBT DUP

    Theresa May’s Government has signed a deal with the anti-LGBT Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

    An agreement between the two parties will mean that the DUP‘s 10 ministers will support the Conservative minority Government. However, the deal falls short of a formal coalition.

    The Conservatives failed to achieve an overall majority in the recent General Election, securing 318 seats. A party needs 326 seats in order to have a majority in the UK. A deal with the DUP could ensure an extra 10 votes.

    Embed from Getty Images

    The Conservatives have said it will find an extra £1.5 billion in funding for Northern Ireland as part of the agreement.

    Speaking about the partnership, the DUP’s leader, Arlene Foster said she was, “delighted that we have reached this agreement, which I think works, obviously, for national stability.”

    The DUP has a long history as an anti-gay party. Its founder, the Rev Ian Paisley spearheaded the Save Ulster from Sodomy in the 1970s, which was opposed to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland, in fact, Northern Ireland was the last country within the UK to decriminalise homosexuality, which it did so in 1982. Paisley’s son, Ian Paisley Jr said that he was “repulsed” by homosexuality.

    More recently the struggle to achieve marriage equality was stalled for the LGBT+ community in Northern Ireland. The same-sex marriage bill has been voted upon four times in Northern Ireland. Each time equality for NI’s LGBT community has been frustrated by the DUP. It is the only part of the UK which does not provide same-sex marriage to its citizens.

    The DUP has said that it is not homophobic but holds traditional views when it comes to marriage.

    Taking to Twitter, the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn said that the deal was not done in the national interest, but in the interest of the PM and the Conservatives own “political survival”.

     

     

     

  • Over 750,000 signed that anti-DUP/Tory coalition petition, it will now be delivered to Number10

    A petition with over 750,000 signatures will be handed to Number 10 Downing Street as people make their feelings about a DUP/Tory coalition known.

    A petition which attracted over 750,000 signatures against a DUP/Tory coalition government has come to an end and its author, Stuart Veaney, will deliver it to Theresa May in 10 Downing Street.

    In a statement on the petition page, Mr Veaney said,

    “I have decided to listen to the majority & this petition has now finished. Unfortunately we did not reach our target of 1,000,000 but 750k is an amazing achievement.

    Thank you so much for your support & I will post an update shortly regarding the delivery of your signatures to No 10.”

    In total 753,269 people signed the petition.

    Theresa May was unable to secure a majority Government after the results of her snap election revealed a shortfall and overall lost in seats, winning only 318 seats. Propped by DUP’s 10 seats, Ms May would have a majority of just two seats. The Conservatives did have a majority of five before the election.

    The petition is hosted on the change.org platform and it remains to be seen whether the cause will be debated in Parliament as per the rules, that any petition that surpasses 100,000 signatures will be considered for debate in Parliament. However, the official UK Government petitioning site is not accepting any new petitions as they are waiting for a new petitions committee.

     

     

  • What do LGBT Conservatives think of Theresa May’s deal with the DUP?

    Ahead of next Wednesday’s Queen Speech, Prime Minister Theresa May is still attempting to solidify a deal that will keep her in Number 10. It looks likely that a confidence-and-supply arrangement could be reached with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, but their stance against same-sex marriage and other issues have divided LGBT Tory activists.

    “There’s no point in denying that working with the DUP makes me personally uncomfortable,” said James Sean Dickson, a British-Irish dual citizen and Conservative Party Member. Dickson, however, has not resigned his membership and is a tad more optimistic about any deal struck between his party and the DUP. “It is quite clear that LGBT+ rights are not up for negotiation.” Former Conservative MP Ben Howlett – who lost his seat at the General Election – also made it clear that any deal needed to draw a hard line between the Tories and the DUP. “The message needs to be loud and clear that there will be no backtracking on LGBT issues in the UK.” He expressed an optimism that the deal could, in fact, give the government some leverage in pushing for further LGBT rights advances in the province. “I think this is a good opportunity for the UK government to negotiate a better deal for LGBT rights in Northern Ireland,” he said. “It is an opportunity the government should not pass up.”

    Chris Taylor, a party member since 1995 who served as a London Councillor from 2002 – 2014, was more unconcerned than some of his fellow party members. Taylor, who describes himself as “ideologically centrist,” says he feels, “completely comfortable in regards to any deal with the DUP.” “It is important to remember that although I do not share the social beliefs of the DUP, they are the democratically elected majority party of Northern Ireland, and were seen as perfectly legitimate prospective partners for the Labour Party back in 2010.” He pointed to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s own support for Sinn Fien, the nationalist republican party in Northern Ireland, as well as Corbyn’s support for what he calls “some Islamic fundamentalist groups that advocate death to gays” as evidence of the hypocrisy around the deal.

    Dickson expressed a similar feeling on the perceived hypocrisy, saying that, “if Labour Party members are displeased by this election outcome they ought to ask themselves whether their leader should have utilised Press TV (the Iranian state-owned news channel) to air his views in the past, given the troubling Iranian LGBT* rights record.” Cautioning that, “we must not allow ourselves to be taken in by a bogeyman caricatures of the DUP,” Dickson told me that the party “is no longer the fire and brimstone expression” it once was.

    Still, the party’s record has many people nervous about what this means for the Tory brand and for LGBT rights. I reached out to LGBT+ Conservatives for comment, but they instead referred me to a HuffPost UK blog by their chairman, Matthew Green. (In the interest of disclosure, the author of this piece is also a HuffPost UK blogger.)   “Let me be clear from the outset,” Green wrote, “the DUP and some of its MLAs hold some pretty appalling views on LGBT rights.” However, he adds the caveat that “given the need for stability ahead of the Brexit negotiations,” he – and it is assumed LGBT+ Conservatives, endorse a “loose co-operation” with the DUP “to ensure that Britain is able to get the right deal as it prepares to leave the European Union.”

    Brexit was brought up by the individuals I spoke with, as well. “Even if [the DUP] wanted to, which they don’t, there is no time available to change equalities legislation given the timescale of Brexit,” Ben Howlett assured me. Chris Taylor agreed, saying that “we need to move forward, in a stable manner, [to] deliver a successful Brexit…” And James Sean Dickson also stressed that “with… days until Brexit negotiations begin, working with the DUP is the surest way to secure stability.”

    Not everyone within the party agrees, though. James Wharton, the openly gay ex-soldier and author of Out in the Army, resigned his membership from the Conservative Party last week. “I’ve left on a point of principle,” he told me. “I can’t happily continue to spend money on my membership and willingly support the party when it spends that support on partnerships with political organisations who make people’s lives less enjoyable than they might otherwise possibly be.”

    In a statement posted on Twitter and sent to his local Conservative Association, Wharton stated that, “as an active LGBT activist, proud of the direction our party has taken since 2010 where LGBT rights are concerned, I’m upset to see Theresa May establish this arrangement with an organisation so vehemently against gay and trans equality.”

    He accused Mrs May of “throwing thousands of LGBT party members under the bus.” “How am I supposed to convince gay and lesbian friends of mine to support a party so in-bed with homophobia, intolerance, and discrimination? The answer is, of course, that I cannot,” he adds.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • COMMENT | Tory and DUP? Not so much a Coalition of Chaos but a Partnership of Peril

    Right now my eyes are tired and my heart is heavy. I stayed up all night Thursday, watching until the early hours as the results rolled in. The exit poll told us we’d get a hung Parliament but I was willing it not to be true. The votes rolled in and it all became clear; Theresa May had failed but so had Jeremy Corbyn. Let’s get this absolutely straight; Corbyn has revolutionised the Labour Party and has mobilised a generation, but he should not be taking this a win. Labour lost. Conservatives lost. Now Britain has lost.

    It’s probably easy for me to be accused of being dramatic but I had outlined clearly my views on why Labour were the right choice. But it needs to be unequivocally clear; what we’ve ended up with now is dangerous and terrifying for LGBT people. Theresa May has decided to get into bed with the DUP. This is not so much a Coalition of Chaos but a Partnership of Peril.

    But why? Let’s look at the anti-LGBT viewpoint of the DUP. In 2005, during a Hustings event, one of their candidates said “You don’t bring a child up in a homosexual relationship. That the child is far more likely to be abused and neglected.” The DUP at the time said that Jim Well’s views were not their policy but just look at First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster. The Irish Government were poised to lift, by a minority, the ban on Gay Marriage. Arlene Foster introduced a Petition of Concern. This is a controversial mechanism in the Irish Assembly which means that, if submitted, proposed legislation must receive at least 60% of the vote and 40% of Nationalists and Unionists must also be present to vote. Arlene Foster knew this would kill the Pro-Same Sex Marriage legislation out of the gate.

    That’s just their leader in Northern Ireland. Their representative in Westminster proposed an introduction of a “conscience clause” in the Equality Act 2010 to allow businesses to turn away LGBT people on religious grounds. This man is a Party hero.

    And what about Equality elsewhere? The DUP played a vital role in continuing to restrict Abortion Rights in Northern Ireland. The DUP are anti-abortion even if the woman has been raped, a victim of incest and even if the foetus won’t survive the birth. This is despite a Court ruling which said the ban was against Human Rights.

    So here we are now with Theresa May who has publicly declared she would “rip up” the Human Rights Act and increase surveillance on the Internet. Sure, I am all for doing our best to battle against Islamic Extremism and Radicalisation online but you know exactly what’s going to happen. They’ll start asking Internet Service Providers to keep a database of our search and browsing history. These databases will inevitably be the target for hackers resulting in millions of people’s private searches being released. What about those in the closet? And hell, what about those people that are into the kinky side of sex? I can see it now; teachers and doctors, Police and Fire Officers being struck off after their private and intimate lives are leaked online. LGBT people hiding in fear of being exposed. You only have to look at the recent TalkTalk hack to know how lax ISP security can be.

    This is why we need to get over our heartbreak and sadness about this election and actually do something. We need to mobilise even more. I do not want to hear nonsense about Jeremy Corbyn and his leadership dominating the Labour Party for the next ‘x’ amount of months. The Labour Party must now focus on strong opposition. And we must join them. I will be re-joining The Labour Party and their efforts to oppose our Government. I will sign every petition and participate in every march because now is not the time for complacency. As we head into the Pride months as we celebrate by waving our flags, kissing our partners and living our free lives we must remember the activists of our past. They did not lay down their lives for us to stay behind our keyboards and allow our Government to steamroll over years of progress. And it isn’t enough for us to only turn up to LGBT events. Our country’s women will need us too.

    So I beg of you. Take this weekend to grieve the loss. Cry to your friends, ponder the future and hashtag your anger. But when it comes to Monday, it is time to clock back in. Your country needs you, your Community needs you, this world NEEDS you. We. Will. Rise.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • Theresa May reassures no erosion of gay rights in return for DUP support

    Theresa May has assured Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, that there will be no erosion of LGBT+ rights in return for DUP support.

    Ruth Davidson, who is planning to marry her partner Jen Wilson, spoke to the Prime Minister about the issue of LGBT+ rights and told the BBC’s Reporting Scotland programme, “I was fairly straightforward with her and I told her that there were a number of things that count to me more than party, One of them is country, one of the others is LGBTI rights.”

    Ms May apparently gave a “categoric assurance” that any deal between the Conservatives and DUP would see “absolutely no rescission of LGBTI rights in the rest of the UK”.

    Ms Davidson also said that Mrs May said she would use her influence to advance gay rights in Northern Ireland.

    Northern Ireland is the last place in the UK to legalise same-sex marriage – with the issue being voted on four times.

    WHO ARE THE DUP?

    The DUP have earned themselves a reputation for being homophobic after voting against same-sex marriage four times.

    Theresa May looks to have negotiated with the DUP, who have 10 seats, in order to take their total number of seats up to 328, a majority of just two seats. However, the coalition will not be welcome news for many in the LGBT+ community has the DUP has run on a platform of conservativism which includes anti-LGBT equality and anti-abortion.

    During their campaigning and the release of their manifesto, the DUP failed to mention any pledges for the LGBT community.

    The party’s founder Ian Paisley spearheaded the Save Ulster from Sodomy in the 1970s, which was opposed to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland, in fact, Northern Ireland was the last country within the UK to decriminalise homosexuality, which it did so in 1982. Paisley’s son, Ian Paisley Jr said that he was “repulsed” by homosexuality.

     

  • Petition urging Theresa May not to form DUP coalition reaches 110,000

    A petition of no confidence in a coalised Government between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has reached 110,000 in under 24 hours.

    Mrs May’s plans to form a Government with the help of the DUP is facing mounting pressure after a petition of no confidence was signed by 110,000 people in under 24 hours. Another petition has reached 380,000 petitioners.

    However, the DUP is a deeply unpopular party with certain segments of society due to their stances on LGBT+ equality, women’s rights and the environment.

    The Prime Minister was unable to secure a majority Government after the results of her snap election revealed a shortfall and overall lost in seats, winning only 318 seats. Propped by DUP’s 10 seats, Mrs May will have a majority of just two seats. The Conservatives did have a majority of five before the election.

    The petition is hosted on the change.org platform and it remains to be seen whether the cause will be debated in Parliament as per the rules, that any petition that surpasses 100,000 signatures will be considered for debate in Parliament. However, the official UK Government petitioning site is not accepting any new petitions as they are waiting for a new petitions committee.

    WHO ARE THE DUP?

    The DUP have earned themselves a reputation for being homophobic after voting against same-sex marriage four times.

    Theresa May looks to have negotiated with the DUP, who have 10 seats, in order to take their total number of seats up to 328, a majority of just two seats. However, the coalition will not be welcome news for many in the LGBT+ community has the DUP has run on a platform of conservativism which includes anti-LGBT equality and anti-abortion.

    During their campaigning and the release of their manifesto, the DUP failed to mention any pledges for the LGBT community.

    The party’s founder Ian Paisley spearheaded the Save Ulster from Sodomy in the 1970s, which was opposed to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland, in fact, Northern Ireland was the last country within the UK to decriminalise homosexuality, which it did so in 1982. Paisley’s son, Ian Paisley Jr said that he was “repulsed” by homosexuality.

     

  • A petition has already formed over a Conservative and DUP coalition

    A petition stating no confidence has already gone live over a coalition between the Conservatives and the DUP.

    A petition of no confidence has emerged over a coalition of the Conservatives and the DUP.

    The Conservatives have failed to achieve an overall majority in the General Election, securing 318 seats. A party needs 326 seats in order to have a majority.

    Theresa May looks to have negotiated with the DUP, who have 10 seats, in order to take their total number of seats up to 329, a majority of just three seats. However, the coalition will not be welcome news for many in the LGBT+ community has the DUP has run on a platform of conservativism which includes anti-LGBT equality and anti-abortion.

    The DUP have earned themselves a reputation for being homophobic after voting against same-sex marriage four times.

    Lorraine Carter who created the petition writes,

    “The UK electorates have spoken. The Conservative majority has been lost. The PM stated through all her campaging for strong and stable, not for a Coalition of Chaos. Once again another U turn. This petition shows no confidence in this coalition make up.”

  • Theresa May to make a deal with one of most homophobic political parties in the UK

    Theresa May looks set to make a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) who have consistently voted against LGBT+ equality.

    ARLENE FOSTER: the DUP leader.

    The DUP have earned themselves a reputation for being homophobic after voting against same-sex marriage four times.

    The Conservatives have failed to achieve an overall majority in the General Election, securing 38 seats. A party needs 326 seats in order to have a majority in the UK.

    Theresa May looks to have negotiated with the DUP, who have 10 seats, in order to take their total number of seats up to 328, a majority of just three seats. However, the coalition will not be welcome news for many in the LGBT+ community has the DUP has run on a platform of conservativism which includes anti-LGBT equality and anti-abortion.

    During their campaigning and the release of their manifesto, the DUP failed to mention any pledges for the LGBT community.

    The party’s founder Ian Paisley spearheaded the Save Ulster from Sodomy in the 1970s, which was opposed to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland, in fact, Northern Ireland was the last country within the UK to decriminalise homosexuality, which it did so in 1982. Paisley’s son, Ian Paisley Jr said that he was “repulsed” by homosexuality.

    Many historic senior DUP figures have attracted criticism for a variety of homophobic remarks. In 2015 Health Minister Jim Wells claimed children brought up in same-sex relationships were more likely to be abused or neglected; he was forced to resign shortly thereafter and the police investigated his remarks.

    In 2008 the wife of then-First Minister Peter Robinson, Iris Robinson, recommended conversion therapy and called homosexuality “disgusting, loathsome, nauseating, wicked, and vile.” 

     

     

  • What The 2017 General Election Result Could Mean For The LGBT Community

    What. A. Night.

    Defying all expectations, Jeremy Corbyn increased the number of Labour seats in the House of Commons as Prime Minister Theresa May lost her majority, leading to a hung parliament and casting doubt on Mrs May’s future as the Conservative Party leader. Right now she looks like she’s hanging on by the skin of her teeth, looking to do a deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party.

    This is bad news for the LGBT community. The DUP is promising to “make its influence felt” in Westminster. We should all be concerned.

    Back in 2015, I wrote about what a disaster a Tory-DUP coalition would mean for us. The DUP is deeply homophobic; they’ve blocked same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland at least four times and laid down as a “red line” marriage equality as a condition for forming a stable government at Stormont with Sinn Fien, the nationalist and pro-gay marriage party.

    That the DUP is so anti-gay that they’re willing to send Northern Ireland into political turmoil over the issue of marriage should concern everyone. Theresa May looks to form a government propped up by their 10 MPs, and this could mean a hard stop to any progress the LGBT community has made.

    The majority of Tory MPs voted against equalising marriage in England and Wales. When the Conservatives passed mandatory personal and sexual health education earlier this year, they omitted education about LGBT people and issues, despite the fact that Education Secretary Justine Greening is an out lesbian. The Tories themselves don’t have the best record of LGBT equality.

    So put them with the DUP, we can expect a real halt to any progress we’ve made over the past 20 years. Whilst education and marriage are devolved issues in Northern Ireland, the party is so deeply homophobic that it’s easy to imagine the Tories not bringing up equality votes for as long as the DUP is the linchpin in their government. Why risk losing your tenuous majority over an “identity politics” issue? Beyond that, though, the Tories are unlikely to push the DUP to enhance and equalise the rights of the LGBT community in Northern Ireland – the last legally homophobic holdout in the British Isles.

    This becomes even riskier considering Theresa May’s commitment (that wasn’t in the manifesto, by the way) to scrap human rights laws – notably the Human Rights Act – which protect LGBT rights. This is ostensibly to combat terrorism at home, but has implications for LGBT equality (for example, in the armed services). Whether the Tories would let the DUP dictate which LGBT rights protections are enshrined in UK law as we transfer EU law to our domestic books is an unknowable. But considering how much of a red line it is at Stormont (after all, they’re willing to jeopardise Northern Ireland peace to keep gay people from marrying), it’s deeply concerning.

    The Tories don’t have a good record on LGBT equality, no matter how you cut it. Yes, David Cameron introduced equal marriage, but it only passed because of Labour and Liberal Democrat votes. The Conservative Party has improved, but it’s not at the level of “ally” yet. That they’re considering going into coalition with the DUP jeopardises LGBT rights in Northern Ireland and, indeed, England and Wales as EU laws which protect us are written into British law.

    The news of the night isn’t all bad, though. Whilst some gay MPs – such as Tory Ben Howlett, who I interviewed last month – lost their seats, we look set to have at least 30 LGBT MPs in the next parliament. Gay candidates such as Wes Streeting and Peter Kyle increased their majorities, whilst Mhairi Black and Justine Greening clung on with reduced majorities – is welcome news for the community. I don’t have an exact count on how many LGBT candidates were elected, but I hope to do so by this evening.

    In the meantime, the LGBT community – like the rest of the country – waits with bated breath to find out what is going to happen to the country we love. No one knows the answer. If Theresa May does hang on, though, it is incumbent upon her to put the LGBT community’s welfare beyond her own desire for power and to make sure any deal, including with the DUP, does not sacrifice the progress we have made – or the victories we are yet to win.