A bomb has ripped through Manchester Arena, killing over 20 people and injuring dozens more.
Twenty-two people killed and a further 59 injured in suicide bombing
Up to 21,000 people attended the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester
Ariana Grande says she’s “broken” in the aftermath of the bombing.
Manchester Police have confirmed that a bomb has exploded at Manchester Arena, killing 22 people and injuring 59. They have been treating the incident as a “terrorist event”.
Twenty-two people have been killed after a blast ripped through Manchester Arena during the end of an Ariana Grande concert. Up to 21,000 fans were in attendance of the concert.
At around 10:3o/33 PM as Ariana Grande had finished her concert, thousands of people were streaming out of the concert venue when a bomb was detonated.
Witnesses say that the bomb went off outside the auditorium.
The victims include children. Fifty-nine people were injured in the blast, which has been described as being detonated by a “suicide bomber”. Victims have been taken to eight different hospitals in the Manchester area.
It has been confirmed that the bomber died at the arena.
Police have been treating the event as a terrorist event and is the worst attack in the UK since 7/7 where 56 people were killed in London in 2005.
Speaking at a press conference, the Chief Constable Ian Hopkins called the bombing the “most horrific” incident that Manchester has faced.
He said,
“Families and many young people were out to enjoy a concert at the Manchester Arena and have lost their lives. Our thoughts are with those 22 victims that we now know have died, the 59 people who have been injured and their loved ones.
“We continue to do all we can to support them. They are being treated at eight hospitals across Greater Manchester.
“To remind you, we were called at 10.33pm to reports of an explosion at the Manchester Arena at the conclusion of an Ariana Grande concert. More than 240 calls came in and emergency services were very quickly on scene”.
Emergency numbers have been established for anyone who is concerned for loved ones who may not have returned home 0161 856 9400 or 0161 856 9900.
Ariana Grande is an advocate of the LGBT+ community has countless fans who identify as LGBT. Her brother, Frankie Grande, who is openly gay, has spoken about how his sister was incredibly supportive when he came out to her.
This article is a breaking news article and is being updated as more news comes in.
| The Faulty Towers Dining Experience, Kingsway Hotel, London
Believe it or not, I’ve never seen an episode of Faulty Towers. I knew that it is a British television institution, a classic, yet I’ve just never got around to watching it (plus I’m a bit too young to remember when it originally aired on television). So I didn’t know what to expect when I went to the Faulty Towers Dining Experience.
It was hilarious! Taking place in the dining room at Kingsway Hotel in Covent Garden, the Faulty Towers Dining Experience is an interactive and immersive theatre at its best. Of course, there is a meal that’s included in the experience, but it’s all about the show that is unravelling (and falling apart) right before your very eyes as you’re tucking into your leek and potato soup – that is if Manuel hasn’t taken it from you.
If you don’t know much about the television show, which would be hard to believe, it is about characters in a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay. First off there is owner Basil Fawlty – a true Englishman – and his wife Sybil, who orders him around but she’s the one who wears the pants in the relationship. And then there is Manual – a short in stature Spanish waiter who practically speaks no English and gets the instructions from Basil all wrong. So it’s these characters from the show that you get to ‘enjoy’ your dining experience with.
The show starts immediately when Basil (played by Benedict Holme) tells Manuel (Anthony Clegg as an exact replica to the Manuel played by Andrew Sachs) to take the glasses away, of course, Manuel takes people’s glasses off their faces and not the drink glasses! Then Basil tells Manuel to pass out the peanuts, so Manuel literally passes out the peanuts. It’s one thing after another, and once you sit down in the Faulty restaurant it’s only a matter of time until Manual interferes with you – he turns your napkin into a bib, tosses rolls around the room, does somersaults, and spends the entire time misunderstanding and misinterpreting everything Basils says. Lucky for us it’s Sybil (Suzanna Hughes) who manages, a bit, to keep the entire dinner from melting into complete chaos! It’s very physical comedy, but it’s also physical for the attendee because you’re laughing very hard and out loud too! It was the unlucky few who found a set of teeth in their soup – gags like this that make the whole thing hilariously fun and funny! No person is spared, and god forbid if you are celebrating a birthday or anniversary – you will get a special gift from Sybil – and boy is it special! It’s an experience that you will not forget – just don’t mention the war!!!
It was a treat to be transported back to the 1970’s with being part of Fawlty Towers Dining Experience. The trepidation that you might be picked on was real and you almost expect the soup to end up on your lap? Sybil was so like the television character down to the scary laugh, while Manuel was brilliant and made the whole show so very reminiscent of the television snow. What a great way to spend a two and a half hours – to be part of this experience makes me want to watch the television series now.
Tickets for the Fawlty Towers Dining Experience can be bought here:
http://www.torquaysuitetheatre.com
If you have any questions on the show, there is a Frequently Asked Questions on the first page.
The London shows, held in the Torquay Suite Theatre at the Kingsway Hall Hotel, are held throughout the year, while there is also a version that tours the UK as well as Australia and the rest of the world. Yes, this is how popular this show is – continuously playing much to the delight of the television show’s fans – it’s the world’s most successful comedy dining show of it’s kind and now it’s time for you to experience yourself too!
TV star Michael Barrymore is suing Essex Police, seeking a reported £2.5 million in compensation.
Michael Barrymore is suing Essex police for a reported £2.5 million in damages after they arrested him in connection with the death of a man, at his home in March 2001.
Butcher Stuart Lubbock, 31 was found dead at the star’s Essex home in March 2001. In June 2001 Police arrested Barrymore, his partner and another man in connection to Lubbock’s death but no charges were brought forward. The same three men were arrested again in 2007 but the case was dropped again after three months. No one was charged.
Essex police accepted liability, but only on a technicality. They admitted that they sent the wrong arresting officer to Mr Barrymore’s home meaning the officer was not making an arrest “on a firm suspicion of guilt” reported Sky News.
Mr Barrymore’s legal team will argue that the entertainer suffered “devastating” damage to his reputation following on from the investigation.
Mr Barrymore was a household name in the 80s and 90s after the hit game show Strike It Lucky, became a firm family favourite. He went on to have a string of highly successful shows such as My Kind Of People and Kids Say The Funniest Things
If you were off from gay school the week that they covered gay icons then this is the play for you. If you’re already well versed in Garland mania then you’ll love this too. Judy is a potted history of the life of Judy Garland told with wit and warmth from the clever perspective of having three Judy Garlands on stage at different points in her life.
Judy Garland was the child stage actress and star of pappy films who hit the big time after landing the role of Dorothy in the iconic film ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Her frenetic delivery on stage, her fragility and her belting unique voice made her a public favourite in spite of her flakiness, late stage arrivals and occasional no-shows. Behind the spotlight, she was a troubled figure and the familiar story of the Hollywood legend played out: psychiatric problems, drug and alcohol abuse, multiple marriages and an untimely death from a Barbiturate overdose aged 47 in London in 1969.
Ray Rackham presents us with three Judys. Firstly we have hard drinking and waspish middle-aged Judy struggling to keep her temper, plagued by debts and desperately trying to make a failing TV show work. Secondly, we have pill-popping mid-life Judy: mother to Liza Minnelli, box office poison, about to risk everything by embarking on marriage number three and throwing all her remaining cash into a risky venture of a grand show on Broadway. Finally, we have awkward teenage Judy, dominated by her pushy show business mother and being used and abused by the film studios.
The device works well and showcases not only a number of songs but manages to portray both uplifting and funny side of Garland as well as the not so joyous times. There’s a cast of twelve with cast members doubling up as the live band too. Oh and the Judys? They’re pitch perfect and totally on point both in mannerisms and vocal style. They’ve clearly had great direction from Ray Rackham (part of the team behind the hit musical ‘Apartment 40c’) and spent a lot of time on YouTube studying Ms Garland’s unique style.
This is a great show in its third incarnation after successful runs as ‘Through the Mill’ at London Theatre Workshop and Southwark Playhouse. It a piece that’s tightly written and will both move you and fill you with equal parts of joy and sadness. Go see it.
At 20 years old, Nate Higgins is one of the youngest parliamentary candidates in the country. Standing for the Greens in West Lancashire, he may be a first-time candidate, but he is well known as a leading Green Party voice on gay Twitter. Originally from Suffolk, Mr Higgins left home at an early age following the death of his mother and is now a student at Edge Hill University, where he’s studying musical theatre. He spoke last week with THEGAYUK about his life, his candidacy, and why the Green Party is the best party for young voters.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
THEGAYUK: If I’m not mistaken you’re a university studentand at least one of the youngest PPCs in the country. Why are you standing?
Nathaniel Higgins: The Green Party candidate for one of the London constituencies… is younger than me. So I don’t want to steal his thunder. But I’m standing for a number of reasons. I originally wasn’t going to. In my mind, I didn’t think it would be fair on constituents to have an MP who spends a lot of his time out of the constituency because of the nature of being a student. But after the local party and regional coordinator and a couple of other people spoke to me and thought I would be the best person to represent West Lancashire, and as I worked out my MP, Rosie Cooper’s voting record, I found a lot to disagree with. And I thought I could make a strong case that I would do the job better than her
I also think it’s really important for young people and LGBT people to have someone in this constituency that they can vote for. I don’t know if you know much about West Lancashire, but aside from the student population, there’s this image that it’s quite conservative, socially at least. Because of that, there isn’t a lot of people around here standing up for LGBT people or the European Union or students’ rights, for examples. As a student, as a gay person, and as a pro-EU person I’m the best person to stand up for those rights. I’m not willing to compromise on my principle positions to be elected, whereas I think the other candidates are.
TGUK: So many young gay men, in particular,seem apathetic about politics, especially as equality is achieved and mainstream acceptance is accomplished. Why should LGBT people of your generation care about this election and care about politics?
NH: A lot of LGB people thinks it stops at the B, and I don’t think it does. Also what I think needs to be remembered is that we don’t necessarily have equality. Although it’s quite a popular opinion to say that we do, there are a lot of issues where if you’re gay, if you’re lesbian, if you’re bisexual, you’re on the backburner. For example, if you want to adopt you’re probably going to be looked at with a little bit more suspicion if you’re a gay couple. If you want to give blood, until recently you were assumed to be dirty and taking part in dangerous sexual activity. Rather than simply asking if they do, they’ll assume that you do if you’re gay. And there’s a whole other host of issues that we haven’t necessarily achieved equality yet.
It’s not just gay people but young people across the board aren’t apathetic towards politics at all. If you ask them about individual issues on a nonpartisan basis, you’ll find quite a lot of enthusiasm for these issues among people my age. But they are apathetic about party politics, and that’s for a whole number of reasons. Primarily it’s because parties don’t feel the need to speak out to them. It’s sort of a catch-22 situation. Young people don’t vote because parties don’t speak out to them, and parties don’t speak out to them because young people don’t vote.
TGUK: That leads perfectly into my next question. Your party, the Green Party, has pledged to equalise job seekers’ allowance, universal credit, housing benefit between those over 25 and those between 16 and 25. Many would argue this is unnecessary because so many young people have help from their parents. Why are they wrong?
NH: If you indulge me and allow me to go into a little of my personal history, I was kicked out of my home when I was 18. I was going to college, and I had to pick up a second job in order to afford my rent, and even then I would not have been able to afford my rent without housing benefit. If that had happened now, now that housing benefit is not available for 18-21-year-olds, I would have had to leave college and move to another town where my dad lived and hope that he would be willing to let me live with him. I would not be where I am now if that had happened…
In a lot of cases just because someone has access to parental support, it doesn’t mean it’s fair to expect them to use it. For example, say that you have a family who is not accepting of LGBT people but is willing to, when asked by the government, is willing to house you if you deny that part of who you are. I don’t think that’s something someone should have to do, and I don’t think they should have to make that case to the government in order to receive the support that they need.
TGUK: Was that your situation? Were you kicked out for being gay?
NH: No, not quite. My mum passed away. My mum was married to an Iranian man, and in the Iranian culture, it’s desirable to remarry as soon as possible. My stepdad’s new wife didn’t like me very much.
TGUK: I’m sorry to hear that. But moving on to the next question, maybe a little less heavy. The Green Party is known to be on the left of British politics. Jeremy Corbyn is also extremely leftwing. Why should our readers vote for the Greens and not just vote for Labour?
NH: As much as politicos like to simplify it this way, politics is not a simple left/right scale. It’s far more complicated than that. What I think you need to see about Jeremy Corbyn is that there’s Jeremy Corbyn the personal politician and there’s Jeremy Corbyn the leader of the Labour Party, and the latter is far more disappointing than the former. Though there’s a lot to disagree with Jeremy Corbyn’s voting record over thirty or so years he’d been a Member of Parliament, he is one of the more progressive Members of Parliament. But as Labour leader, he has left a lot to be desired. For example, he claims to want to break open the establishment but then doesn’t support things like electoral reform that will bring that. And the reason why is there’s a lot of disagreement on the backbenches of the Labour Party on electoral reform. Jeremy Corbyn’s position is nearly untenable as it is, so he doesn’t want to implement something like that. But then you see John McDonell who does support electoral reform.
…the Labour Party just isn’t standing up for you at the moment. You saw it on their capitulation to the Tories on Article 50, and how they gave the Conservatives a blank cheque on the Article 50 vote. And they do that because the Labour Party is terrified, absolutely terrified, of losing a certain number of its voters. It’s because the Labour Party is, at the end of the day, a coalition of very different people and its voter base is a lot of very different people. So a lot of times if you’re supporting the Labour Party you’re supporting a party that is acting in the interests of other people, whereas I think the voter base of the Green Party is much more unified. By nature of being a smaller party that’s much easier. But the Green Party is almost always going to be voting in your interest
TGUK: Almost always?
NH: Well I mean, no politician is perfect. There will be some Greens who disagree with the way that Caroline acts in Parliament sometimes. I don’t personally have any issues that I can think of myself, but it’s just no politician is perfect, and I think we should acknowledge that. What I think needs to be understood is in this electoral system it’s not possible for smaller parties to win a position in government as a smaller party. So a lot of the time they let go of their principles for electoral success, and the Green Party is never going to do that.
What you also need to remember is if you’re voting for the Labour Party in hopes that Jeremy Corby becomes Prime Minister, what happens if he doesn’t? Does he then resign and you get another Blairite? The Labour Party isn’t Jeremy Corbyn. What I think you need to remember is you’re voting for a representative of your constituency, not the Prime Minister. And Party leaders change often and they change unpredictably. So I don’t think you should vote Labour just because you like Jeremy Corbyn. And depending on where you are, a Green MP might be more supportive of Jeremy Corbyn than the Labour representative is.
TGUK: Can strategic voting and a progressive alliance actually work?
NH: I just want to stop you right there. There is no such thing as a singular “progressive alliance.” A “progressive alliance” is a principle that has taken many different forms in many different constituencies. No party wants to implement a national alliance with any party. It wouldn’t work, it would be wrong to the activists on the ground, and it would be wrong to the candidates if they’re already selected. Instead what we’re saying is in constituencies where there is a sitting conservative MP or a progressive Labour MP is at risk of losing their seats, let’s have a conversation about what we can do to best make sure that our principles continued to be implemented by this MP. Because there’s no point in putting in all the effort of standing if you’re shooting yourself in the foot by doing so.
TGUK: Speaking of democracy, the Green Party is against Brexit and has promised a second referendum. But haven’t the British people already decided that?
NH: The Green Party has not promised a second referendum. No party is promising a second referendum. What we have promised is, if we were in the ability to implement this, we would bring the final deal that is implemented back to the people in a ratification referendum. And that is not a second referendum. I think that’s really important, because when people hear a second referendum, what they hear is a party trying to subvert the will of the people. But this would be a different referendum with a different question, and it would be something along the lines of “is this deal acceptable for this country?” What I think you need to remember is that though a majority of people voted for Brexit, it was such a small majority – around four per cent. …
Once we actually know what Brexit looks like, once we know what is achievable and what is possible, we should bring that to the people just to make sure before we embark on the biggest change to our constitution since we joined the European Union.
TGUK: So much of LGBT equality is underpinned by rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (which Brexit doesn’t take us out of) and the European Court of Justice (which it does). How can we enshrine LGBT equality achieved through European mechanisms into British law post-Brexit?
NH: Okay, so one interesting thing is – so Theresa May, and I think people forget this, and I think Theresa May wants people to forget this, but she backed Remain. But what she said was “let’s stay in the European Union but let’s leave the European Court of Human Rights.” So her being Prime Minister now gives me absolutely no faith that we will remain in the ECHR in the long-term. What we need to make sure is that during the transition period of leaving the EU is that all of these ECHR rulings are transcribed into British law wholesale. I think that’s what should be done. There should be a bill in parliament that says all current EU law will be put on the British statute book, and we can then, later on, decide which policies are desirable to remove.
But I don’t think that’s a negotiation that should happen during the transition process. What you’ll get is all these different – it will clog up Parliament’s time, and it will be impossible for MPs to properly hold the government to account on the thousands of different laws that they would have to decide on. Like, you can’t do this one by one. Every EU law has to become British law, and those rights for LGBT people need to come with them. Then later on if the government wants to repeal certain rights, they can make that case to Parliament. In the meantime, we need to elect progressive MPs who we know stand by LGBT rights when it comes to voting on them. We cannot allow this battle that we’ve won to be undone.
TGUK: So that’s the opposite of the Great Repeal Bill?
NH: I’ve not actually read up on the specifics of the Great Repeal Bill, but in my view, we need to make sure that all EU law becomes British law at the time of leaving so that when it comes to repealing specific laws it can be held to account by MPs.
TGUK: The Green Party is also, obviously, concerned with the environment and climate change. What environmental concerns does Brexit raise?
NH: Well, by nature the environment is… a cross-border problem. The EU is one of the best ways to coordinate on that on a European level. The United Kingdom could become a carbon neutral perfect country and the planet would still be in crisis. We cannot solve this problem on our own; that’s what the Paris climate talks were about. Removing that level of cooperation between the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, which is required in order to have a measurable impact on the environment, was a mistake in my view.
For example, our fish don’t stop at country borders. They will swim between country borders. So we need to make sure our seas across the whole of Europe are not polluted in order to stop the negative impact that has on sea life, for example.
TGUK: What’s the most important issue facing the LGBT community in this election?
NH: I won’t speak for all LGBT people, but for me, my worry is that when we have a Conservative government, that LGBT rights are going to stand still whilst the rest of the world moves forward. There are things like adoption rights – the majority of Conservative MPs voted against that for LGBT people. Same-sex marriage, the majority of Conservative MPs voted against that. And something that was pointed out to me today is that the Conservative government actually banned the Church of England from carrying out same-sex marriages. If that had been any other government, that never would’ve happened. Even if the Church of England decided that it wanted to take out or provide same-sex marriages, they wouldn’t be allowed to because the Conservative Government actually banned it in the process of legalising same-sex marriage. And I think that identifies the Conservative approach to equality altogether…
As a reminder to where Scottish MPs stood on one of the most recent and important pieces of legislation affecting the LGBT+ community in the UK, we’ve listed all the MSPs who voted for same-sex marriage in 2014.
Here is the full list of MSPs who voted for same-sex marriage in Scotland.
CONSERVATIVES
Jackson Carlaw (West Scotland)
Ruth Davidson (Glasgow)
Annabel Goldie (West Scotland)
John Lamont (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands)
John Scott (Ayr)
SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY
George Adam (Paisley)
Clare Adamson (Central Scotland)
Christian Allard (North East Scotland)
Colin Beattie (Midlothian North and Musselburgh)
Marco Biagi (Edinburgh Central)
Chic Brodie (South Scotland)
Keith Brown (Clackmannanshire and Dunblane)
Margaret Burgess (Cunninghame South)
Aileen Campbell (Clydesdale)
Roderick Campbell (North East Fife)
Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley)
Angela Constance (Almond Valley)
Bruce Crawford (Stirling)
Graeme Dey (Angus South)
Nigel Don (Angus North and Mearns)
Bob Doris (Glasgow)
James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart)
Jim Eadie (Edinburgh Southern)
Annabelle Ewing (Mid Scotland and Fife)
Linda Fabiani (East Kilbride)
Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee City West)
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North)
Rob Gibson (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross)
Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)
Fiona Hyslop (Linlithgow)
Adam Ingram (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley)
Colin Keir (Edinburgh Western)
Bill Kidd (Glasgow Anniesland)
Richard Lochhead (Moray)
Kenny MacAskill (Edinburgh Eastern)
Gordon MacDonald (Edinburgh Pentlands)
Derek Mackay (Renfrewshire North and West)
Mike MacKenzie (Highlands and Islands)
Michael Matheson (Falkirk West)
Stewart Maxwell (West Scotland)
Joan McAlpine (South Scotland)
Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside)
Christina McKelvie (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse)
Aileen McLeod (South Scotland)
Fiona McLeod (Strathkelvin and Bearsden)
Stuart McMillan (West Scotland)
Alex Neil (Airdrie and Shotts)
Gil Paterson (Clydebank and Milngavie)
Dennis Robertson (Aberdeenshire West)
Shona Robison (Dundee City East)
Michael Russell (Argyll and Bute)
Alex Salmond (Aberdeenshire East)
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast)
Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central)
Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow Southside)
John Swinney (Perthshire North)
David Torrance (Kirkcaldy)
Maureen Watt (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine)
Paul Wheelhouse (South Scotland)
Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin)
John Wilson (Central Scotland)
LABOUR
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton)
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife)
Richard Baker (North East Scotland)
Jayne Baxter (Mid Scotland and Fife)
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland)
Neil Bibby (West Scotland)
Sarah Boyack (Lothian)
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith)
Kezia Dugdale (Lothian)
Mary Fee (West Scotland)
Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn)
As a reminder to where Scottish MPs stood on one of the most recent and important pieces of legislation affecting the LGBT+ community in the UK, we’ve listed all the MSPs who voted against same-sex marriage in 2014.
Here is the full list of MSPs who voted against same-sex marriage in Scotland.
CONSERVATIVES
Gavin Brown (Lothian)
Alex Fergusson (Galloway and West Dumfries)
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife)
Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland)
Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands)
Nanette Milne (North East Scotland)
Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland)
Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife)
SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY
Dr Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Roseanna Cunningham (Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)
As a reminder to where MPs stood on one of the most recent and important pieces of legislation affecting the LGBT+ community in England and Wales, we’ve listed all the MPs who voted for same-sex marriage in 2013.
Here is the full list of MPs who voted for same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
CONSERVATIVES (127)
The Conservative MPs who voted for same-sex marriage:
Stuart Andrew (Pudsey)
Greg Barker (Bexhill & Battle)
John Baron (Basildon & Billericay)
Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central)
Richard Benyon (Newbury)
Crispin Blunt (Reigate)
Nick Boles (Grantham & Stamford)
Peter Bottomley (Worthing West)
Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands)
James Brokenshire (Old Bexley & Sidcup)
Aidan Burley (Cannock Chase)
Conor Burns (Bournemouth West)
Alistair Burt (Bedfordshire North East)
Dan Byles (Warwickshire North)
David Cameron (Witney)
Neil Carmichael (Stroud)
James Clappison (Hertsmere)
Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells)
Kenneth Clarke (Rushcliffe)
Damian Collins (Folkestone & Hythe)
Oliver Colville (Plymouth Sutton & Devonport)
Tracey Crouch (Chatham & Aylesford)
Stephen Dorrell (Charnwood)
James Duddridge (Rochford & Southend East)
Alan Duncan (Rutland & Melton)
Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford & Woodford Green)
Michael Ellis (Northampton North)
Jane Ellison (Battersea)
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield)
Mark Field (Cities of London & Westminster)
Mike Freer (Finchley & Golders Green)
Lorraine Fullbrook (South Ribble)
David Gauke (Hertfordshire South West)
Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis & Littlehampton)
Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park)
Michael Gove (Surrey Heath)
Richard Graham (Gloucester)
Helen Grant (Maidstone & The Weald)
Chris Grayling (Epsom & Ewell)
Damian Green (Ashford)
Justine Greening (Putney)
Ben Gummer (Ipswich)
Sam Gyimah (Surrey East)
William Hague (Richmond (Yorks))
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon)
Matthew Hancock (Suffolk West)
Greg Hands (Chelsea & Fulham)
Mark Harper (Forest of Dean)
Richard Harrington (Watford)
Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry)
Charles Hendry (Wealden)
Nick Herbert (Arundel & South Downs)
Damian Hinds (Hampshire East)
George Hollingbery (Meon Valley)
Kris Hopkins (Keighley)
John Howell (Henley)
Jeremy Hunt (Surrey South West)
Margot James (Stourbridge)
Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove)
Bernard Jenkin (Harwich & Essex North)
Jo Johnson (Orpington)
Andrew Jones (Harrogate & Knaresborough)
Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury & Atcham)
Simon Kirby (Brighton Kemptown)
Andrew Lansley (Cambridgeshire South)
Jessica Lee (Erewash)
Oliver Letwin (Dorset West)
Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth)
Peter Luff (Worcestershire Mid)
Jason McCartney (Colne Valley)
Mary Macleod (Brentford & Isleworth)
Patrick McLoughlin (Derbyshire Dales)
Francis Maude (Horsham)
Theresa May (Maidenhead)
Mark Menzies (Fylde)
Maria Miller (Basingstoke)
Nigel Mills (Amber Valley)
Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield)
Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North)
Stephen Mosley (Chester, City of)
David Mowat (Warrington South)
David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale)
Andrew Murrison (Wiltshire South West)
Brooks Newmark (Braintree)
Sarah Newton (Truro & Falmouth)
Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster & Fleetwood)
Guy Opperman (Hexham)
George Osborne (Tatton)
Richard Ottaway (Croydon South)
John Penrose (Weston-Super-Mare)
Andrew Percy (Brigg & Goole)
Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar)
Chris Pincher (Tamworth)
Daniel Poulter (Suffolk Central & Ipswich North)
Dominic Raab (Esher & Walton)
Mark Reckless (Rochester & Strood)
Hugh Robertson (Faversham & Kent Mid)
Amber Rudd (Hastings & Rye)
Laura Sandys (Thanet South)
Grant Shapps (Welwyn Hatfield)
Alok Sharma (Reading West)
Mark Simmonds (Boston & Skegness)
Keith Simpson (Broadland)
Chris Skidmore (Kingswood)
Chloe Smith (Norwich North)
Julian Smith (Skipton & Ripon)
Nicholas Soames (Sussex Mid)
Anna Soubry (Broxtowe)
Caroline Spelman (Meriden)
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle)
Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South)
Rory Stewart (Penrith & The Border)
Desmond Swayne (New Forest West)
Hugo Swire (Devon East)
Justin Tomlinson (Swindon North)
Elizabeth Truss (Norfolk South West)
Ed Vaizey (Wantage)
Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet)
Charles Walker (Broxbourne)
Robin Walker (Worcester)
Dame Angela Watkinson (Hornchurch & Upminster)
Mike Weatherley (Hove)
Chris White (Warwick & Leamington)
David Willetts (Havant)
Sarah Wollaston (Totnes)
Tim Yeo (Suffolk South)
Sir George Young (Hampshire North West)
LABOUR (217)
The Labour MPs who voted for same-sex marriage:
Diane Abbott (Hackney North & Stoke Newington)
Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East & Saddleworth)
Bob Ainsworth (Coventry North East)
Douglas Alexander (Paisley & Renfrewshire South)
Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East)
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green & Bow)
Graham Allen (Nottingham North)
Dave Anderson (Blaydon)
Mr Jon Ashworth (Leicester South)
Ian Austin (Dudley North)
Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West)
Willie Bain (Glasgow North East)
Ed Balls (Morley & Outwood)
Gordon Banks (Ochil & Perthshire South)
Kevin Barron (Rother Valley)
Hugh Bayley (York Central)
Dame Margaret Beckett (Derby South)
Hilary Benn (Leeds Central)
Luciana Berger (Liverpool Wavertree)
Clive Betts (Sheffield South East)
Roberta Blackman-Woods (Durham, City of)
Hazel Blears (Salford & Eccles)
Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South & Cleveland East)
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central)
David Blunkett (Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough)
Ben Bradshaw (Exeter)
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West)
Lyn Brown (West Ham)
Nicholas Brown (Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Russell Brown (Dumfries & Galloway)
Chris Bryant (Rhondda)
Karen Buck (Westminster North)
Richard Burden (Birmingham Northfield)
Andy Burnham (Leigh)
Liam Byrne (Birmingham Hodge Hill)
Alan Campbell (Tynemouth)
Martin Caton (Gower)
Sarah Champion (Rotherham)
Jenny Chapman (Darlington)
Katy Clark (Ayrshire North & Arran)
Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley)
Vernon Coaker (Gedling)
Ann Coffey (Stockport)
Michael Connarty (Linlithgow & Falkirk East)
Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford)
As a reminder to where MPs stood on one of the most recent and important pieces of legislation affecting the LGBT+ community in England and Wales, we’ve listed all the MPs who voted against same-sex marriage in 2013.
Here is the full list of MPs who voted against same-sex marriage in the UK.
CONSERVATIVES (136)
The Conservative MPs who voted against same-sex marriage:
Nigel Adams (Selby & Ainsty)
Adam Afriyie (Windsor)
Peter Aldous (Waveney)
David Amess (Southend West)
James Arbuthnot (Hampshire North East)
Richard Bacon (Norfolk South)
Steven Baker (Wycombe)
Tony Baldry (Banbury)
Guto Bebb (Aberconwy)
Henry Bellingham (Norfolk North West)
Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley)
Andrew Bingham (High Peak)
Bob Blackman (Harrow East)
Peter Bone (Wellingborough)
Graham Brady (Altrincham & Sale West)
Julian Brazier (Canterbury)
Andrew Bridgen (Leicestershire North West)
Steve Brine (Winchester)
Fiona Bruce (Congleton)
Robert Buckland (Swindon South)
Simon Burns (Chelmsford)
David Burrowes (Enfield Southgate)
Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan)
Douglas Carswell (Clacton)
Bill Cash (Stone)
Rehman Chishti (Gillingham & Rainham)
Christopher Chope (Christchurch)
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswolds, The)
Therese Coffey (Suffolk Coastal)
Geoffrey Cox (Devon West & Torridge)
Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire)
David Davies (Monmouth)
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire)
Philip Davies (Shipley)
David Davis (Haltemprice & Howden)
Nick de Bois (Enfield North)
Caroline Dinenage (Gosport)
Richard Drax (Dorset South)
Charlie Elphicke (Dover)
Jonathan Evans (Cardiff North)
David Evennett (Bexleyheath & Crayford)
Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks)
Liam Fox (Somerset North)
Mark Francois (Rayleigh & Wickford)
George Freeman (Norfolk Mid)
Roger Gale (Thanet North)
Sir Edward Garnier (Harborough)
Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest)
Cheryl Gillan (Chesham & Amersham)
John Glen (Salisbury)
Robert Goodwill (Scarborough & Whitby)
James Gray (Wiltshire North)
Andrew Griffiths (Burton)
Robert Halfon (Harlow)
Simon Hart (Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire South)
Sir Alan Haselhurst (Saffron Walden)
John Hayes (South Holland & The Deepings)
Oliver Heald (Hertfordshire North East)
Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne & Sheppey)
Philip Hollobone (Kettering)
Adam Holloway (Gravesham)
Sir Gerald Howarth (Aldershot)
Stewart Jackson (Peterborough)
Gareth Johnson (Dartford)
David Jones (Clwyd West)
Marcus Jones (Nuneaton)
Greg Knight (Yorkshire East)
Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne)
Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North)
Pauline Latham (Derbyshire Mid)
Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford)
Edward Leigh (Gainsborough)
Julian Lewis (New Forest East)
David Lidington (Aylesbury)
Peter Lilley (Hitchin & Harpenden)
Jack Lopresti (Filton & Bradley Stoke)
Jonathan Lord (Woking)
Tim Loughton (Worthing East & Shoreham)
Karen Lumley (Redditch)
Karl McCartney (Lincoln)
Anne McIntosh (Thirsk & Malton)
Stephen McPartland (Stevenage)
Esther McVey (Wirral West)
Anne Main (St Albans)
Paul Maynard (Blackpool North & Cleveleys)
Stephen Metcalfe (Basildon South & Thurrock East)
Nicky Morgan (Loughborough)
Anne-Marie Morris (Newton Abbot)
David Morris (Morecambe & Lunesdale)
James Morris (Halesowen & Rowley Regis)
Bob Neill (Bromley & Chislehurst)
Caroline Nokes (Romsey & Southampton North)
David Nuttall (Bury North)
Stephen O’Brien (Eddisbury)
Matthew Offord (Hendon)
Jim Paice (Cambridgeshire South East)
Neil Parish (Tiverton & Honiton)
Priti Patel (Witham)
Owen Paterson (Shropshire North)
Mark Pawsey (Rugby)
Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead)
Mark Pritchard (Wrekin, The)
John Randall (Uxbridge & Ruislip South)
John Redwood (Wokingham)
Jacob Rees-Mogg (Somerset North East)
Simon Reevell (Dewsbury)
Sir Malcolm Rifkind (Kensington)
Andrew Robathan (Leicestershire South)
Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury)
Andrew Rosindell (Romford)
David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds)
David Rutley (Macclesfield)
Andrew Selous (Bedfordshire South West)
Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet & Rothwell)
Sir Richard Shepherd (Aldridge-Brownhills)
Henry Smith (Crawley)
Sir John Stanley (Tonbridge & Malling)
John Stevenson (Carlisle)
Bob Stewart (Beckenham)
Mel Stride (Devon Central)
Julian Sturdy (York Outer)
Robert Syms (Poole)
Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth & Horncastle)
David Tredinnick (Bosworth)
Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight)
Shailesh Vara (Cambridgeshire North West)
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes)
Ben Wallace (Wyre & Preston North)
Robert Walter (Dorset North)
James Wharton (Stockton South)
Heather Wheeler (Derbyshire South)
Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley)
John Whittingdale (Maldon)
Bill Wiggin (Herefordshire North)
Gavin Williamson (Staffordshire South)
Jeremy Wright (Kenilworth & Southam)
LABOUR (22)
The Labour MPs who voted against same-sex marriage:
Joe Benton (Bootle)
Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley)
Tom Clarke (Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill)
Rosie Cooper (Lancashire West)
David Crausby (Bolton North East)
Tony Cunningham (Workington)
Jim Dobbin (Heywood & Middleton)
Brian Donohoe (Ayrshire Central)
Robert Flello (Stoke-on-Trent South)
Mary Glindon (Tyneside North)
Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe & Sale East)
Dai Havard (Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney)
Michael McCann (East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow)
Jim McGovern (Dundee West)
Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde)
George Mudie (Leeds East)
Paul Murphy (Torfaen)
Stephen Pound (Ealing North)
Frank Roy (Motherwell & Wishaw)
Jim Sheridan (Paisley & Renfrewshire North)
Derek Twigg (Halton)
Mike Wood (Batley & Spen)
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT (4)
The Liberal Democrat MPs who voted against same-sex marriage:
Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Gordon Birtwistle (Burnley)
John Pugh (Southport)
Sarah Teather (Brent Central)
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party MPs who voted against same-sex marriage:
Gregory Campbell (Londonderry East)
Nigel Dodds (Belfast North)
Jeffrey Donaldson (Lagan Valley)
The Rev William McCrea (Antrim South)
Ian Paisley Jr (Antrim North)
Jim Shannon (Strangford)
David Simpson (Upper Bann)
Sammy Wilson (Antrim East)
INDEPENDENTS (2)
The Independent MPs who voted against same-sex marriage:
★★★| In this one man, twenty-one woman show, the Faaaabulous Ceri Dupree brings an evening of glitz, glamour and variety to the theatre. Featuring a combination of original songs, colourful characters, female impersonations, anecdotal comedy, an abundance of feathers and sequins, quick fire one liners and healthy dose of tongue in cheek sardonic barbs aimed at members of the audience, the show is unashamedly old school drag.
Photo Credit – PR supplied
Taking the scattergun approach to comedy, there was a good mixture of comedy, ranging from gentle observations to the slightly risqué to the downright crude, with the vast majority of the gags hitting the spot. Throw into this, a slew of characters, from Dame Edna Everage to Camilla Parker Bowles, from Shirley Bassey to Mary Hopkins and from Amy Winehouse to Gladys Pugh, there were plenty of laughs to be had.
The show is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of success. Parts of the act were hilarious – such as the Dame Edna section, which involved copious amounts of ribbing members of the audience, whereas the Amy Winehouse impersonation fell rather flat and garnered little response. Some of the jokes were probably around when Bernadette was touring with Les Girls, and some of the relevance of the characters, such as Gladys Pugh (from Hi-Di-Hi) and Mary Hopkins would be lost on many of the younger members of the community (although gays of a certain age (like me) will find it hilarious).
But that said, the show shone brightly in the main, especially with the original songs, some hilariously blue and innuendo filled humour, a song-laden second act and genuine warmth resonating throughout. With drag standards all present and correct, Joan Collins, Shirley Bassey, Kathyrn Jenkins, Charlotte Church and even the Queen don’t escape unscathed. As the show rounds to a close with the mirror balls spinning and the audience on their feet for a rousing rendition of I Am What I Am, you know that you are firmly in the campest of floorshows.
The show is pure cabaret, of the ilk which is reminiscent of the old days of variety in the style of Hinge and Bracket or Danny La Rue. What makes the show stand out is that it does away with the bitchiness and backstabbing and places the fun and entertainment value of drag squarely in the centre of the stage. Whilst there is very little here that you won’t have seen before if you had been knocking around the scene in the eighties, the show ups the ante of the pub cabaret circuit and delivers a quality and style of show which is becoming harder to find on the scene.
Slick, polished and with more laugh out loud moments than anticipated, this is a show which will either take you back to your youth, or show you how it used to be done properly.
The Faaaabulous Ceri Dupree Show was reviewed at CAST in Doncaster, who have a varied and packed programme of shows and is a cultural gem in the heart of the city. Visit https://castindoncaster.com/ for details. The show is on national tour and details can be found at http://www.ceridupree.co/index.html
Police investigating a rape in Roe Green Park off Kingsbury Road, NW9 on Tuesday, 16 May, have charged a teenager.
A 13-year-old boy from north London who was arrested on Wednesday, 17 May, was charged on Thursday, 18 May with one count of rape of a male under 13; one count of causing or inciting a child under 13 into sexual activity and one count of kidnap.
He will appear in custody at Willesden Magistrate’s Court on Friday 19 May.
Officers from the Met’s Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command are investigating.
