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Labour leadership candidate seeks full pardon for gay men convicted of ‘gross indecency’
Labour leadership favourite Andy Burnham called for a blanket pardon for all gay men convicted under the ‘indeceny’ laws, Friday.
He said he’ll press prime minister David Cameron for change: the law as it is allows only pardons for living victims who apply to the Home Office.
‘I was one of the first Labour frontbenchers to call for equal marriage, and I believe the next frontier is a law to remove this shadow from our national history.’
Burnham consulted the proposal with Sir Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions and now a Labour MP.
Starmer said: ‘Automatic pardons are appropriate in these cases, not only to mark the grossly unjust basis of the convictions but also to send a powerful message to the world about the unacceptability of similar anti-gay laws still in existence.’
There has been ongoing pressure for further action since Alan Turing, the founding father of computer science, was granted a pardon in 2013.
Burnham said: ‘Alan Turing made a remarkable contribution to our country, but it is not only national heroes that deserve to have their suffering atoned for.
‘Tens of thousands of men were treated appallingly and every one of these convictions is equally shameful.’
The ‘appalling’ treatment Burnham hints at include chemical castrations and potentially life imprisonment.
He suggests such a pardon would not merely be a gesture to surviving individuals and families but would have international significance.
‘It would send a strong message to millions of LGBT individuals around the world, who still live in fear of persecution, and to the governments and national leaders that refuse to recognise equal rights,’ he said.
There are currently five people running for Labour leadership in the UK. Burnham runs alongside shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna, and shadow health minister Liz Kendall.
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Jack Flanagan
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