Let’s add David Cameron to our list of Labour achievements – and push him further

By Wes Streeting / @wesstreeting

In the words of Stonewall chief Ben Summerskill, something “historic” happened this week: David Cameron apologised for the piece of Tory hate legislation well known to the LGBT community as ‘Section 28’.

Reactions to the Conservative leader’s apology have been mixed; some see it as a superficial rebranding exercise, while others who have been directly affected by the impact and legacy of the pernicious ban on schools ‘promoting’ (interpreted widely as ‘discussing’) homosexuality may feel unable to forgive and forget. David Cameron’s apology on Section 28 may be overdue, but – having called for an apology for so long – the LGBT community would be churlish to reject it.

In fact, David Cameron’s apology for Section 28 – which caused lasting damage to generations of vulnerable young LGBT people – and compulsion to support civil partnerships, ought to be added to the long list of Labour achievements that have made a real difference to the lives of LGBT people. The creation of New Labour in the nineties sought to build a coalition in the Party and in the country, capable not only of carrying the Labour Party into government but of securing lasting progressive change for Britain. That most national newspapers today are covering the battle for the ‘pink vote’ is a testament to the change in social attitudes that Labour has achieved alongside a legislative programme for LGBT equality that seemed a distant dream in 1997.

But as Ben Bradshaw highlighted in his recent blog, the voting record of the Tories, including Cameron himself, leaves a lot to be desired. The Labour response should be to put Cameron to the test with our own forward-looking programme to defend and extend the rights enjoyed by LGBT people thanks to the Labour government. Let’s publish our achievements and publish our pledges and challenge Cameron to back them line by line.

I genuinely hope that David Cameron is serious about shifting the Conservative Party away from its recent history of bigotry and intolerance. But until he sets out his forward offer and sorts out his parliamentary party, I’ll remain unconvinced that his apparent epiphany isn’t just a piece of clever positioning.