Johann Hari's interview with David Cameron exposed his amnesia on his own gay rights votes. It is not the first time that he has forgotten which way he voted.
Johann Hari’s interview with David Cameron exposed the Conservative leader misremembering his own votes against gay rights. But LGBT Labour have outlined that it is not the first time that he has forgotten which way he voted.
In the Independent, Hari writes:
“I start to go over his record beyond Section 28 – and slap into a brick wall. In 2002 he voted against allowing gay couples to adopt. Yet when I ask him why, he flatly denies it. He says: “No… we were three-line-whipped on that vote and I abstained on it.” I point him to Hansard, which records his vote against gay marriage in cold, black ink. He says “my memory” is that he abstained, and that he now thinks “the ideal adoption is finding a mum and a dad, but there will be occasions when gay couples make very good adoptive parents. So I support gay adoption.”
But LGBT Labour point out a similar exchange with Sky’s Adam Boulton in November 2005:
David Cameron: I abstained on a three line whip which was …
Adam Boulton: You voted against it twice.
David Cameron: I abstained on the three line whip, Adam. I haven’t been through Hansard.
(Sky News, 24/11/05)
Cameron also used the interview to say:
“I’m not allied with parties that have views on homophobia or racism that I think are unacceptable.”
As this blog outlined last month, Cameron’s Polish partners are planning a clampdown on gay websites, with one leading MP claiming they would “monitor homosexual websites because we are dealing with the promotion of the so called ‘positive paedophilia’.” Hari details other developments:
“A few days before we met, the MPs of this “not homophobic” Law and Justice Party demanded a crackdown on what they called “positive paedophilia by some homosexual circles.” Their senior MP, Stanislaw Pieta, said: “I’m not saying every gay is a paedophile, but in Britain 43 per cent of paedophiles are gay and they only make up 1 per cent of the population.” Their leader, Lech Kaczynski, says “the human race would disappear if homosexuality was freely promoted.” There are hundreds of such statements from the party, all on video.”
The Pink Paper picks up on Cameron’s view that no new gay rights are needed. The Liberal Democrats recently set out a series of proposals to enhance gay rights.
17 Responses to “Cameron’s amnesia on gay adoption”
David
Soho, the blood ban isn’t a matter of law, it’s a policy by the NHS. And he proposed no new laws to deal with homophobic violence.
alllowercase
Hmmm….I get a little bit worried when people start talking about “the right to give blood”.
I’m not entirely sure that the National Blood Service has got the science right, and it certainly sounds a bit off to ban an entire group of people from giving blood if they’re willing to, unless it is backed up by firm scientific evidence.
So, yes, lets argue with them on the science and the facts, but lets not pretend that there’s a right to give blood.