This is quite unbelievable. Twenty years ago a then unknown Liberal Democrat politician, Simon Hughes, took a safe labour seat. How? A rankly homophobic campaign against the openly gay labour candidate. (It wasn't subtle, unless you think putting out leaftets saying "Vote Hughes- the straight choice" is subtle.)

Nice people, the liberals, I've always said it. I wonder if their 1992 Cheltenham leafters claimed the voters had a "black and white" choice? But I digress.

Anyway, this man is now a candidate for leader of his party, and therefore presumably in some fantasy world, considers he would be a suitable prime minister. And perhaps as part of that he has recently finally admitted that the 1983 campaign was wrong.

Earlier this week, Mr Hughes apologised for homophobic elements of the by-election campaign which first shot him to political fame in a shock victory in 1983.

He told BBC2's Newsnight that he accepted some elements of his party's campaign to defeat gay rights activist Peter Tatchell had been "unacceptable", although he pointed out that Mr Tatchell blamed the media and Labour colleagues more.
And NOW he admits to having had "homosexual relationships" himself. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/news/...695212,00.html

So we have someone who wants to lead his party and country, who has so little moral sense that he allowed his campaigners to vilify a man for being gay, when he himself is also gay (or bisexual)

Word fail me. I have always hated the liberal democrats (in contrast to labour who I used to quite respect) but this is beyond the pale.