Bradshaw: Reject 'homophobic' Tories

A "DEEP strain of homophobia" still exists within Conservative Party ranks, Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw has claimed.

The Exeter MP said the Tory Party's record on gay rights – including the voting pattern of David Cameron – meant they could not be trusted.

Mr Bradshaw, one of three gay Cabinet ministers, spoke out after an opinion poll showed more gay voters were ready to back the Conservatives.

But Tory frontbencher Alan Duncan said the remarks showed Labour was "actually the nasty party", accusing Mr Bradshaw of politicising an issue which should be beyond party point-scoring.

As scores of people from Devon and Cornwall travelled to the capital today for the landmark Pride London march, the two main political parties clashed over which was more "gay friendly".

It follows Mr Cameron's move earlier this week to apologise for Section 28 – the Tories' controversial law banning councils from portraying homosexuality in a positive light.

He told a Gay Pride event: "We got it wrong. I hope you can forgive us."

However, at a debate later, Mr Bradshaw criticised the Tory's record on supporting gay rights. "I hope that people in the lesbian, gay and transgender community will closely examine the Conservatives' record on this and David Cameron's record in particular, which is not good," he said.

The Conservative leader "talks the talk but he doesn't walk the walk", he added. "A deep strain of homophobia still exists on the Conservative benches."

Junior Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant, who is also gay, said: "If gays vote Tory, they will rue the day very soon."

But last night, Mr Duncan, the openly gay Shadow Commons Leader, told the Evening Standard: "This is the last gasp of Labour's desperation. Bradshaw and Bryant are simply trying to stir up hatred and division from the last century and it's both unwarranted and unworthy.

"It's simply untrue. I believed we had reached the happy point where politics had been taken out of this altogether. But these remarks show that Labour is actually the nasty party."

Other senior Conservatives noted how the "name calling" contrasted with Gordon Brown's claim that he did not approve of personal attacks in politics.

The Prime Minister sent a message of support to the organisers of this weekend's Gay Pride march in London, telling them that his Government's policy on homosexual rights was based on the principle: "You can't legislate love."

Mr Brown's wife Sarah is expected to join up to one million lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender marchers at today's parade.

A survey by Jake, a networking organisation for gay professionals, found 38 per cent of its members would vote Tory at the next election, 1 per cent higher than the general population, according to an average of recent opinion polls. Labour came third on 20 per cent, behind the Lib-Dems.