A Brexit party candidate has refused to explain or apologise for a previous incident in which he allegedly referred to gay sex as a “shameful deed done in secret”.
In the upcoming general election Timothy Vince will stand for the Brexit Party in South Thanet, the constituency in which UKIP’s Nigel Farage failed to win a seat in 2015.
On November 3, BBC presenter Julia George repeatedly called him to account for his alleged homophobic comments on BBC’s Sunday Politics South East.
Vince refused to explain himself, invoking the experience of former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, who was repeatedly probed about his beliefs on gay sex after he refused to say whether he believed it was sinful.
Having first quizzed Vince on his stance on the EU and his bizarre history of conspiracy theories, George asked him to clarify the ‘homophobic’ comments he’d made in the context of protests against LGBT-inclusive education.
“You’ve also spoken and written about the politics of sex and relationships education in schools, referring to shameful deeds done in secret, by which I presume you’re referring to gay sex,” she said. “Is it a sin?”
Vince side-stepped the question, replying: “I’ll tell you straight up that on the front page of the Telegraph they talk about Jews leaving this country because of Corbyn, well it’s not just Corbyn. Faith schools are being suppressed on this issue -”
“Is gay sex a sin?” George pressed.
“Look, we’ve got school gate protests because there’s religious illiteracy among the media,” he replied, but George asked for a third time: “Is gay sex a sin?”
“I’m telling you straight,” Vince paused, before proceeding with yet another ambiguous answer. “Because that’s the question you asked Tim Farron, and he was hounded and not able to talk about any other policy. I happen to have a classical…”
George interrupted: “I think it’s something that the people of South Thanet might like to know, when you refer to shameful deeds done in secret, are you referring to gay sex and is it a sin?”
“I think that one day everything hidden will be brought to light,” Vince replied ominously. But unfortunately for him, his views on gay sex aren’t quite as hidden as he might like to think.
