Government sacks adviser Roger Scruton, who compared gay sex to incest
Sir Roger Scruton poses next to his portrait painted by Artist Lantian D at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Photocall at the Mall Galleries on May 4, 2016 in London, England. (Ian Gavan/Getty)
The UK government has finally sacked housing tsar Sir Roger Scruton, after months of pressure to dismiss him for “racist, homophobic and antisemitic” views.
Sir Roger Scruton was appointed by the Conservatives to head a new housing commission on November 3, but immediately came under fire for his long record of divisive comments.
Writings resurfaced dating from 2001 to 2015, in which Scruton compared gay sex to incest, claimed that homophobia was “invented,” and claimed that being gay was more dangerous than smoking.
Sir Roger Scruton finally sacked after remarks about Chinese people and George Soros
The Conservative government dismissed calls to dismiss Scruton, but he was finally let go after an incendiary interview with the New Statesman published on Wednesday (April 10).
In the interview, Scruton claimed that “each Chinese person is a kind of replica of the next one,” and repeated past claims about a “Soros empire,” an antisemitic conspiracy theory relating to Jewish philanthropist George Soros.
He was finally sacked by housing minister James Brokenshire, within hours of the interview’s publication.
Theresa May has been told to fire Roger Scruton (John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty)
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Professor Sir Roger Scruton has been dismissed as Chairman of the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission with immediate effect, following his unacceptable comments.”
A Downing Street spokesperson also described the comments as “deeply offensive and completely unacceptable.”
In November, Brokenshire was among senior conservatives to defend Scruton, claiming in the House of Commons :”I have to say it saddens me that someone who has done so much to champion freedom of speech and freedom of expression should be subject to misinformed ill-judged and very personal attacks of the kind we have seen over the last few days.
“It saddens me that his views have been so misrepresented, and his character has been smeared.”
However, according to the New Statesman, Scruton’s position became “untenable” because his latest comments came while he was serving in the government.
Roger Scruton claimed religion is ‘miracle cure’ for homosexuality
In a 2001 essay, Scruton claimed the then-Labour government was trying to “introduce propaganda into junior schools that will legitimise the ‘gay’ alternative,” adding that “people live longer, happier, and healthier lives… if they adhere to the traditional sexual code.”
In the City Journal essay, the Tory housing tsar described religious belief as a “miracle cure” and asserted that homosexuality is more dangerous than smoking.
Scruton complained: “Our own government is… lowering the age of consent for homosexual intercourse and censuring as ‘homophobic’ those who would alert us to the known medical consequences.
“Nanny is… eager to protect young people from smoking and cites the health risk as her argument. But she does not wish to protect them from homosexual adventures and therefore forbids all discussion of the risk, far greater though it is than the risk attached to cigarettes.”
