Letter: Commons vote continues to make criminals out of young homosexuals

Sir: If this Government's 'back to basics' policy is to mean anything, surely it should mean upholding decency, tolerance, compassion, understanding and support for equality before the law. How then can the Prime Minister and many of his Cabinet colleagues justify voting for continuing institutionalised discrimination (and criminalisation) of a group in society simply because of who they are, as they did in last night's vote on the age of consent?

If the Government cannot face the reality of the varied expressions of sexuality which are an inescapable part of the human condition, how can it hope to create 'a society at ease with itself'? Once again it seems we have to look to the European Court of Human Rights to remedy inequalities which Parliament is apparently unable to bring itself to do.

Yours faithfully,

CHRISTOPHER WOOD

London, E3

22 February