Oh, I can here the whistles screeching as we speak. Apparently the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, was secretly taped suggesting that people who ran bed and breakfasts in their homes should "have the right" to turn away homosexual couples.
Oh, if only
The comments, made by Grayling last week to a leading centre-right thinktank, drew an angry response from gay groups [really?] and other parties [let me guess, Mothercare, Wetherspoons, that sort of thing?], which said they were evidence that senior figures in David Cameron's party still tolerate prejudice. Best you just read the article, I'm bored already.
Read the full Observer article here.
UPDATE - 4/04/10 at 14.08
The BBC's Norman Smith said it was "awkward and embarrassing" for the shadow home secretary, who would have to enforce equality legislation should the Conservatives win the election. In a statement, Mr Grayling said: "Any suggestion that I am against gay rights is wholly wrong - it is a matter of record that I voted for civil partnerships. I also voted in favour of the legislation that prohibited bed and breakfast owners from discriminating against gay people. However, this is a difficult area and on Wednesday I made comments which reflected my view that we must be sensitive to the genuinely held principles of faith groups in this country. But the law is now clear on this issue, I am happy with it and would not wish to see it changed."
Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay rights group Stonewall, told the BBC he was "deeply saddened" by the comments, which would give voters "pause for thought". He said people were not forced to open their homes as commercial premises and they should abide by the law. "I don't think anyone, including the Tories, wants to go back to the days where there is a sign outside saying: 'No gays, no blacks, no Irish'," he said [oh, I don't know]. What was more worrying, he added, was that Mr Grayling said these sorts of things in private but not in public.
Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw, who is openly gay, told the BBC: "Not only is this displaying the fact that the Conservatives have not really changed on this and many other issues, but here you have the shadow home secretary advocating that people break the law." Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said "Chris Grayling's plan would allow discrimination to thrive".
[packs whistle away]
[packs whistle away]
