Liam Fox has sensationally sentenced a gay Tory member to 50 lashes for refusing to support his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party, and by extension the premiership of the whole United Kingdom.
Fox voted against same-sex marriage back in 2013, describing the proposals – which were later passed by Parliament – as an ‘absurd’ form of ‘social engineering’. He remains best known for his spell as the Conservative Party’s Defence Secretary, first as a shadow minister then from 2010 as part of the government, during which time he routinely visited and met with officials from Sri Lanka, Saudia Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Homosexuality is illegal in all three states, although unlike in Sri Lanka – where theoretical sentences are not enforced – in Saudi Arabia and the UAE homosexual acts are regularly met with prison sentences, in some cases in Saudi Arabia even with lashings and the prospect of death.
In this instance however, Fox’s anger is believed to have little to do with the sexual inclinations of his intended subordinate. Instead, his ire has been raised by the refusal of the individual in question to endorse his leadership campaign, which last night ended in dismal failure.
The ‘sentence’ assigned by Fox bears no legal weight, and it is thought to be highly unlikely that anybody will receive or administer a single lash. But the mere proclamation of the sentence, the simple threat of the lash, is surely enough to show the extent of Fox’s fury.
There is no indication whatsoever that the unnamed gay lover is Fox’s own. Rather, he appears to be an otherwise disassociated gay lover, a longtime Conservative who Fox bumped into in the halls of Westminster or out on the street.
