Wednesday, 5 October 2011

Tory Pride And Prejudice: Shouldn't "Prejudice" Come First?

This book - with its migraine-inducing cover - is published this week, to coincide with the Conservative Party conference. Obvs.
It's a fascinating subject and very timely, what with the Tories actually doing some good stuff for The Gays for the first time, instead of queuing up to give us all a good collective kicking.
Blood ban, parental registration on passports, gay marriage (possibly), slight change to old "homosexual offences" you can now get removed from your criminal records... the list is quite literally not endless.
And only a cynic would say they're just doing a bit of light dusting after someone else has cleaned the entire fucking house.
So what of Tory Pride And Prejudice - the book?
Don't ask me, I haven't seen a copy.
But as a dedicated gay journalist I'll only read the blurb on the back cover anyway.
"This is the story of how public opinion became steadily more accepting and progressive, and how the Tories caught up at last..."
Says it all, doesn't it?
It's written by a Tory, Michael McManus, who now runs Biteback (!) Publishing (so send me a free copy, bitch).
Here's Fagburn childishly picking holes in a piece he wrote for the Mail On Sunday last month; 'How The Tories Became The Gay-Friendly Party'
And, in the interests of balance, here's McManus talking about his book on Broadcasting House on Sunday.
Mr McManus used to run Ted Heath's office for several years - and ghosted researched and drafted his memoirs.
Which I hope you find as gigglesome as I do.
So let's cut straight to the gossip.
Was the bachelor PM gay?
McManus thinks he definitely was;
“Some people said he was just asexual, but I don’t believe anyone is asexual. They so often looked for other reasons, but to me it was clear. He sacrificed his personal life for his career.”
So now you know.

• Fascinating book fact! The working title for Tory Pride And Prejudice was Over The Blue Rainbow. Presumably until someone pointed out this made no sense.

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