TORIES SILENT IN FACE OF HOMOPHOBIA

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 30th Apr 2007

Fiona Hall has revealed that in last week's crucial vote on a European Parliament resolution condemning rising homophobia in Europe, only one British Conservative MEP voted for the resolution. The rest, including North East MEP Martin Callanan, voting against or abstained. This is in sharp contrast to Liberal Democrat MEPs, all of whom voted for the resolution.

Fiona commented:

"With their failure to support a resolution condemning discriminatory remarks by political and religious leaders targeting homosexuals, the Tories have shown their true colours."

"Their apathy in the face of rising homophobia should come as no surprise. The Conservative camp is today rife with contradiction. Cameron attempts to paint a glossy image of a gay-friendly party in the UK while desperately trying to get into bed at European level with Poland's homophobic 'Law and Justice' party."

The Polish prime minister and leader of the ruling Law and Justice party was quoted by the International Herald Tribune as saying "It's not in the interest of any society to increase the number of homosexuals - that's obvious."

The full text of the European Parliament's resolution is available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+TA+20070426+SIT+DOC+WORD+V0//EN&language=EN (pp.117-120

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The full text of the European Parliament's resolution is available here