British MPs want conservative to resign for ‘offensive’ views on homosexuality
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One of the most influential conservative philosophers in the Western World may soon be out of a job. Sir Roger Scruton was tapped by the UK Housing Secretary on Saturday to chair a government committee whose purpose is to champion beautiful buildings.
Almost immediately after news of Scruton’s appointment broke, several Labour MPs began calling for his removal from the non-salaried post, claiming he has a history of making “offensive” homophobic remarks.
Scruton, who has taught at Princeton, Oxford and St. Andrews, among other places of higher learning, is 74 and has authored more than 30 books on topics ranging from art and architecture to literature and music. He received the Czech Republic’s Medal of Merit in 1998 for having fought against communism in Eastern Europe in the 1980s. In 2016, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to philosophy and education. Currently, he serves as a senior fellow at the D.C.-based Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Shadow communities secretary Andrew Gwynne and backbenchers Wes Streeting and Luciana Berger point to past statements where Scruton, who is opposed to adoption for same-sex couples, has called homosexuality “not normal.”
MP Streeting told the liberal website Buzzfeed, “With every passing hour it becomes clear that Roger Scruton has a history of making offensive comments. It beggars belief that he passed a vetting process.”
In the book, Scruton argues, “In a society devoted to ‘inclusion,’ the only ‘phobia’ permitted is that of which conservatives are the target.” Conservatives, he added, “are frequently marginalized or even demonized as representatives of one of the forbidden ‘isms’ or ‘phobias’ of the day — racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, etc.”
The Bow Group, a conservative British think tank, tweeted its support for Scruton.
The Bow Group fully supports Sir @roger_scruton, one of the greatest conservative minds in history-Those who oppose #culturalmarxism are constantly under attack in the media, having faced down the Soviet Union,#SirRogerScruton is one of the few that will never bow to its pressure
Staff writers Helen Dale, a homosexual, and Fraser Myers for the British website spiked have come to Scruton’s defense as well, arguing in separate articles that his critics are “offendotrons” and acting like thought police.
James Delingpole of Breitbart has also written about the attempt to fire Scruton, claiming the attacks on him are a classic example of social justice warrior “point and shriek” tactics whereby a “shrill, fascistic minority feign noisy outrage in order to bully the majority into acting against its own interests.”
