Philip Lardner, candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran, said homosexuality was 'not normal behaviour'
Hélène Mulholland
The Conservatives today suspended a parliamentary candidate who said homosexuality was "not normal behaviour".
A Tory spokeswoman said the comments by Philip Lardner, the party's candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran, were "deeply offensive and unacceptable".
On his website, under the heading 'What I believe in', Lardner said: "Homosexuality is not 'normal behaviour'".
The first suspension, in June 2008, came when he described the former Rhodesia leader Ian Smith as a "British hero who came from the empire and fought for his country".
He also said Enoch Powell's predictions about immigration had "in a small way come true".
The Conservatives said Lardner was reinstated three months later following an investigation which concluded the comments were "exaggerated" and "lifted out of context" by a newspaper. He apologised and was given a warning.
His latest suspension, so close to election day, will have little impact on the Conservatives in a constituency in which Labour's Katy Clark was returned with a majority of more than 11,000 at the last election.
But the reason behind it will cause further problems for David Cameron, who has tried to pitch the modern Conservatives as gay-friendly.
Andrew Fulton, the chairman of the Conservatives in Scotland, said Lardner's views had "no place" in the Tory party.
"The views expressed by Philip Lardner, the candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran, are deeply offensive and unacceptable, and as a result he has been suspended as a member of the Conservative party," he said.
"We therefore do not support Mr Lardner's candidacy in the North Ayrshire and Arran constituency".
The controversy will do little to help Cameron's efforts to court the gay vote.
Earlier this month, the Tory leader faltered in an interview with Gay Times, and also faced pressure to sack two members of his front bench over comments they made in the course of the campaign.
The shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, caused controversy when he appeared to sympathise with the owners of a B&B who had turned away a gay couple.
Grayling subsequently apologised for giving the "wrong impression" and said he supported gay rights.
Cameron has also kept in place Julian Lewis, the shadow minister for defence and the candidate for New Forest East, who wrote that he had been "very strongly against" lowering the age of consent for gays from 18 to 16 because of the "seriously increased risk of HIV".
Labour's Europe minister, Chris Bryant, said: "David Cameron will take action when it costs him nothing, in a seat far from being a target for the Tories.
"But when it comes to homophobic comments from sitting Tory MPs like Julian Lewis and Chris Grayling, David Cameron's silence is deafening.
"This isn't leadership, it's just spin. The truth is the Tories haven't changed. You can't blow hot and cold on equality and human rights".
The Guardian
