David Laws has resigned as Chief Secretary to the Treasury

[Angua]

Originally Posted by LondonRoad

I find it very disappointing that in this day and age a corrupt politician tries to use his sexuality as an excuse. I mean ffs who didn't know, or at least suspect, that he was gay.

That was not important in the least. As a taxpayer there have been worse thieves working in the House of P. but a crook's a crook.

In this ,allegedly, new open political environment I find it even more disappointing that the PM and his deputy have been so supportive.

Any MP can rent a room with a person as their city accommodation without question and this is all perfectly LEGAL. The mistake Mr Laws made was continuing to pay rent via expenses AFTER he was in a relationship with his landlord in an attempt to keep said relationship private.

As for outing a gay - this should be for the person concerned, NOT some rag stirring things up because things are not going to plan.

You would be surprised how many people hide their sexuality from their family. Often with the unspoken collusion of their own family who are still hoping for grandchildren.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Frankly I can't care less about him and his sexuality.It's not an issue for me and in this day and age it's a bit specious to claim it is pertinant to the situation. It's total rot as most wouldn't have given the fact a second thought.

Just because it is not an issue to you, does not mean it is not an issue to David Laws or to other people.

Even if "most wouldn't have given the fact a second thought", it does not mean all wouldn't have given the fact a second thought.

Given that he kept quiet about his sexuality all these years, it suggests that he did certainly think that some people at least would have given it a second thought. Not all family members are accepting when someone comes out, not all friends are, not all colleagues are... He went to a Catholic school, & spent years working in the City, so you can see why he may have preferred to keep quiet regarding his sexuality.

[frogstamper]

I can't help wondering how many more of these revelations the Torygraph has stashed away for a more news-worthy day.
If they are sitting on more stories like the above and then drip them out for sensational headlines over the coming months this could well backfire on the paper, I still can't see why it has taken so long to break the story concerning Laws though.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by frogstamper

I can't help wondering how many more of these revelations the Torygraph has stashed away for a more news-worthy day.
If they are sitting on more stories like the above and then drip them out for sensational headlines over the coming months this could well backfire on the paper, I still can't see why it has taken so long to break the story concerning Laws though.

And as if by magic...

CF Thread: "Next-up for the Telegraph: Danny Alexander"


As for why it took so long for the David Laws story... well, what would the point have been in doing it last year or earlier this year, when he wasn't anywhere near as well known & wasn't in a rather important position? More newsworthy doing it now, and also of course it's damaging to the Coalition...