Gay Tory MPs miss London Pride
Gay Conservative MPs Alan Duncan and Nick Herbert will not attend London Pride today.
Instead, shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is not gay, will attend in their place. He is to make a speech at Trafalgar Square this afternoon.
Duncan, who yesterday called Labour accusations of homophobia “a sick scare story”, told PinkNews.co.uk he was busy with constituency events.
Herbert, the shadow environment secretary, is also understood to be missing the parade.
Gregory Barker, the openly gay Tory MP for Bexhill and Battle, could not be contacted.
This week, Labour politicians launched an extraordinary attack on the Conservative Party, accusing it of being rife with homophobia.
Following party leader David Cameron’s apology for Section 28, which banned teachers from “promoting” homosexuality, gay Labour MPs Ben Bradshaw and Chris Bryant attacked the party, with Bryant saying gays who voted for the party would “rue the day very soon”.
Deputy leader of the House of Commons Harriet Harman told us the “essential heart” of the Tory party was homophobic, while her shadow counterpart Duncan condemned the accusations as “groundless malice”.
A survey from Jake, the gay networking society, found that 38 per cent of members were planning to vote Conservative at the next general election, compared to just 20 per cent for Labour. The findings mirror similar polls, such as one conducted by PinkNews.co.uk earlier this year.
