TUC will vote on services gays ban

THE TUC is being drawn into the controversy over the ban on homosexuals serving in the armed forces.

The National Union of Civil and Public Servants (NUCPS), which represents middle-ranking civil servants, is to ask next week's Trades Union Congress to join the campaign to rescind the prohibition on gay men and lesbian women. Union insiders believe the move will succeed, intensifying pressure on the Labour Party to follow suit.

The TUC has also banned the Volunteer Reserve Forces (VRF) from exhibiting at the Brighton Congress on the grounds that they are also bound by the Ministry of Defence's policy "which conflicts with the TUC's principled opposition to discrimination".

The civil servants' motion to the conference describes the blanket ban on homosexuality in the armed forces as "an insult to the many lesbians and gay men who have exemplary service records".

It notes that no other EU country has a similar ban and points out that 250 service personnel have been dismissed because of their sexuality beteen 1990 and 1994.

NUCPS calls on the trades union movement to work with gay pressure groups, including Stonewall and Rank Outsiders, (which represents sacked homosexuals), to persuade Defence Secretary Michael Portillo to rescind the ban on homosexuals in the armed services.

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner, said: ''TUC support for a repeal of the ban will increase pressure on the MoD for an official policy review.

''I hope the Labour Party will follow the TUC's positive example by banning the Ministry of Defence from its conference until such time as the policy is changed.''