Today Conservative PPC Margot James (Stourbridge) said that homosexuals have a duty to vote conservative at the next election.

Ms James said that homosexual couples often don’t have children and thus they should vote conservative to get tax breaks. I was thinking that this would never get passed the pro-family conservative base, but then it came to me. This is just an extension of the Conservative’s favourite family policy – you must have two parents; a man and a woman. This isn’t support of the homosexual community by the Tory party this is a just new way or persecuting against their rights, and let’s be honest if some of the Conservative Party had their way, they would round up homosexuals along with any other minority group, and deport them out of this country.

But the idea that homosexuals do not benefit from taxes is completely wrong. Yes maybe they don’t have children, but the children who are currently going through the state school system (and thus benefitting from the taxes) may grow up to be in all sorts of fields that can be a benefit to the whole society (e.g. doctors and nurses).

So this PPC, who is openly gay, thinks that the ‘new modern’ Conservative Party can simply wash away years of actively promoting homophobic polices – especially the hideous bit of legislation known as Section 28. The idea that the Conservative party is open and friendly towards the homosexual community is one of the most ridiculous notions presented by the conservative party in recent times. Having met some of the Tory party activists and councillors from across the country, I now know that these people just spit bile and venom at anyone who doesn’t agree with their way of thinking.

So it’s obvious to me that that Ms James has never met these people, as if she had she would never had said; “gay people should not just vote Conservative, they have a duty to vote Conservative.” Duty? Duty to vote Conservative? I don’t think so. Yes people have a civic duty to vote but quite exactly why an entire community should all vote for the conservative party is beyond me. Ms James as well entitled to voice her opinion, but the idea of the entire homosexual community voting Conservative, is as about as likely Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit leaving the Conservative party and joining a Communist party.

The scars of section 28 can’t be removed by Cameron’s showman politics. When the repeal of section 28 went through the House of Commons, the vast majority of Conservative MPs voted against it. And this of course was the second attempt to remove the bill; the first was stopped by the Conservative peers in the House of Lords. Now maybe Ms James forgot about all of this, because of course this only happened in 2003.

There is of course another area where the Conservative Party was able to show its homophobic credentials – the equal age of consent laws. Those with good memories; will know that it only passed after the Parliament Act was used, and this only happened because of a group of peers led by Baroness Young kept stopping the bill in the House of Lords.

Even more recently the party changed its rules so that during selection meetings, the panel can not ask a candidate about his or her sexual preference. This was three years ago. Everyone else grew up along time ago and realised that a candidate’s private life, is that; It’s private. It’s not up for discussion at a selection meeting and it is not a qualification for the job.

So, what Ms James was talking about, the proposed measure that gays should vote for the Tories and in return get tax breaks, is just another example of the modern Conservative party not promoting equality, rather they’re fighting against it. As normal (for them) one section of society will have different rules than the other, and even within the homosexual community there will be a difference in attitude from a Conservative Government; those that conform with their ideals will be rewarded, and those that fulfil their human rights to live their lives as they choose to and going to be punished by the government. So as I said not equal but segregated; the Tories not tolerant, just Homophobic and Ms James is just naive.