Labour Bigotry

Labour front benchers Chris Bryant and Ben Bradshaw have said that gay people should vote Labour, and refuse to vote Conservative.

This is politics, and I am sure they want everyone to vote Labour. However to single out a group (even one that they belong to) and suggest that they should all vote the same way is ridiculous. I could see that if there was a sound reason, such as a vote against a party that made a core issue of attacking that group, then a case could be made. As it is Bryant and Bradshaw are just demanding that gays vote as gays, not as members of society with a variety of needs and different priorities, who will therefore vote for a variety of parties.

Calling for gays to vote against Respect or the BNP might be justified, but calling for all gays to vote against a party with openly gay front-bench MPs is simply bigotry.

Hat tip to Iain Dale, who has a much longer piece.