4/27/2007

Homophobic Tories ? Allegations made against Welsh Assembly candidate

Oh dear, the headline says it all really.

Darren Millar, the Tory candidate is denying the Labour allegations, but it appears to be getting a lot of coverage in Wales. Is this an attempt by the Tories to appeal to a certain demographic ?

Read the story HERE.

It must be an ongoing concern for the many gay Tories that there are elements within their party who continue to make statements about homosexuality as if it is a sin or a criminal act. Most of the Tories I know that I would consider to be friends, are themselves gay, and in many cases, I know they feel alienated sometimes by those that they consider to be their political allies.

When I was active in North Norfolk politics, there were a number of senior Tories who would seek to disparage their own PPC because he was gay, and they would sometimes do this in a very public way. I have to say it shocked us Lib Dems.

Update - Peter Black offers more information on the story HERE.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice to see the Lib Dem candidate was paying attention! LOL!

I'd be more concerned that he appears to want creationism taught in our schools…

Nich Starling said...

Just, he is on record as saying he heard it clearly. Look at the P.S. at the bottom of my posting which I have just added.

Anonymous said...

Not going to lose any sleep over what he did or didn't say. He's a minnow in a pig pond. Having an early night as I'm campaigning in the morning - you doing anything?

Nich Starling said...

Final home game of the season for Norwich City, so I'll be going to the game with my wife (we both have season tickets).

Aside from that, I might be doing some stuff on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Expecting to win (football-wise)? Is Delia still a major share-holder there? Does she cook burgers in mobile take-away vans? LOL.

Justin (signed out)

Nich Starling said...

the first match I took my wife to was a day when Delia was in our stand "meeting the fans". She's very popular with Norwich fans. My (now) wife said "is that Delia Smith ?", sounding really impressed. "Yea," I smile at Delia, she nods back as if she knows me - I nod back again. All this leavs my wife very impresed with me indeed. Of course, Delia wouldn't know me from Adam.

Delia (and her husband) have stuck millions in to developing Norwich's off field income. The restaurant (Delia's Brasserie) makes about £750,000 profit a year and it all goes to the club.

Will we win ? A southampton fan at work assures me that Norwich alays beat Southampton, so I'll say yes.

Iain Dale said...

Nich, two of your own councillors made similar remarks. Indeed, Norman Lamb apologised to me for it at the count. I see one of them, Robin Combe, is standing again.

I am afraid that people with these attitudes won't be persuaded out of them. We just have to wait for them to die off.

Nich Starling said...

I have never heard Robin make comments about you in my presence.

I do know of one councillor who made a quip about you in a Lib Dem meeting and was given short shrift by Norman Lamb for doing so.

We had an elderly executive member a few years ago who told a couple of our best campaigners hoe his years in the navy had taught him to spot gays "just like that", he also claimed to be able to "sniff them out". Funnily enough, the two people he told this to were both bay and were both in hysterics that he had not even twigged that they were gay.

You have to remember Iain that you accused me on your blog in 2005 of making comments about you, which was completely untrue. so we have to be careful awlways of hear'say.

P.S. You were damned lucky not to get a points reduction !

Iain Dale said...

remind me!

And yes, we were lucky. Sort of.

Nich Starling said...

You actually said something along the lines of "Lib Dem Councillors Robin Combe and Nich Starling should be careful what they say about me on the doorstep as I don't appreciate it"

The implication was that I was saying things that were untrue. I had a policy never to mention you. If someone asked what I knew of you my answer was "He's a political book seller from Kent". I have to many gay friends to ever think that is an issue to campaign about, and of course, I also have a conscience.

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