Hague defends Tory PPC who “tried to ‘cure’ gay people”

William Hague defended yet another homophobic Tory candidate today, Philippa Stroud - who founded a church that tried to "cure" homosexuals through prayer.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague defended yet another homophobic Tory candidate today, Philippa Stroud – who founded a church that tried to “cure” homosexuals by driving out their “demons” through prayer. Stroud, the Conservative Party PPC for Sutton and Cheam, is head of the right-wing think tank The Centre for Social Justice, a group David Cameron addressed in a keynote speech on “Broken Britain” last Tuesday.

Hague, speaking on BBC Radio 5 this morning, also defended the Tories’ anti-gay far-Right allies in Europe, and said Stroud’s case was different from that of Philip Lardner, suspended from standing for the Conservatives in North Ayrshire and Arran, who had said homosexuality was “not normal”. To describe Stroud as homophobic, insisted Hague, would be “false” and “misleading”.

Listen to his interview:

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, criticised Stroud, telling today’s Guardian:

“It would be highly regrettable if someone who continued to hold these views held any significant office in government.”

This is just the latest in a series of anti-gay stories about Tory MPs, candidates and allies in recent months; these include the homophobic remarks of Chris Grayling and Julian LewisBoth men remain members of David Cameron’s front bench team.

88 Responses to “Hague defends Tory PPC who “tried to ‘cure’ gay people””

  1. ebony

    Hague defends Philippa Stroud who "tried to 'cure' gay people" http://j.mp/c8DvWf

  2. John Shields

    Calm down everyone – listen to the what he’s saying. Hague doesn’t say anything bad himself here. And it damages the Labour or Lib Dem causes if you criticise unreasonably. Not helpful. Not helpful at all. Hague is a clever and talented politician, and like when the Tories attack respected politicians like Ashdown or Benn, they suffer. Labour and the Lib Dems will also suffer if they unreasonably level attacks at Hague. He’s obviously not a homophobe, and equally, the Tories have taken huge strides forward in their approach to the gay community – let’s not attack them for it!

  3. John Shields

    Labour especially have to be very very careful here – the attitudes of most traditional Labour voters in many constituencies are far more homophobic than anything you would hear from the Conservative backbenchers. If they’re not careful, there’ll be another ‘Duffy moment’, where the Westminster-bound political class shows itself to be detached – however positively – from the majority of the electorate.

  4. First XI: The Tory MPs committed to narrowing the gap between rich and poor | Left Foot Forward

    […] all, 35 Tory candidates at the last election signed the pledge, including Philippa Stroud, PPC for Sutton & Cheam and the former head of the Centre for Social Justice – currently […]

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