Flustered, red faced, even confused, David Cameron in his interview with the Gay Times, intended to show the Tories have move forward on the issue on the homosexuality, but the leader made such a hash of the questions he came close to stopping the interview altogether.
David Cameron stated that he would like free votes for MEPs and MPs on matters of human rights where possible, but then stumbled when interviewer Martin Popplewell pointed out that this did not with square up with his declared commitment to homosexuality as a fundamental human right. Realising that he should have said MPs would be required to vote according to the party line, Mr. Cameron looked down at the floor and conceded:
"Do you know... can we stop for a second, I really want to answerthese questions... either can we do a TV interview or a press interview. I would almost like to start from scratch."
In the end, after a short break to compose himself, Mr. Cameron was able to carry on, however Ben Bradshaw, Labour Minister for Culture, Media and Sport wasted no time in labelling the mistake as a "gaffe".
The whole debacle started when the interviewer probed the Conservative leader on a vote in the European Parliament, in which his Conservative MEPs voted against a resolution condemning a Lithuanian law, which is widely seen as deeply homophobic.
Not only is this cited as pointing to a flawed party modernisation process, some speculate that that MEPs' vote could have been influenced by the Conservative's partners in the 'European Conservatives and Reformists' group' in the EU Parliament, a group which includes ultra-conservative parties. David Cameron received much flak for joining up with parties, like the Latvian party 'For Fatherland and Freedom' seen by most of Europe as extreme. It appears his decision to align with them will repeatedly come back to bite him.
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