Pub that allegedly said it would have banned gay Labour group reported to police

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

A London pub has been reported to the police following an alleged homophobic comment made by its manager to the Labour Party’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans) group. The comments have sparked widespread condemnation by senior labour figures including leadership candidate Ed Balls and Sarah Brown, the wife of former prime minister Gordon Brown and former deputy prime minister John Prescott.

The row began when the Labour LGBT group posted the following message on social media platform Twitter: “Manager at The Greencoat Boy near Westminster told members he would have refused the #LGBTLabour booking if he’d known it was an LGBT group!”.

The alleged comments sparked a visit from the police, who were photographed interviewing members of the group inside the pub.

Sarah Brown posted the following message on Twitter: “very sad to hear that the Greencoat Boy shown as homophobic in taking LGBT booking – but good to see so many are concerned here.”

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott Tweeted: “40 years ago we campaigned against a Hull pub that banned ‘women & queers’ This is disgraceful. Fully back you #greencoatboy ”

The #greencoatboy and #bullybar hastags are currently among the most Tweeted on the social media platform.

Ed Balls, a candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party described the alleged incident as “really shocking” and Labour MEP Michael Cashman has led calls for a boycott of Punch Taverns who own the pub. A boycott campaign organised on Facebook has already signed up almost 500 supporters.

Punch Taverns have not yet responded to a request for a comment from PinkNews.co.uk.

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