On June 1st, the Mail on Sunday published what purported to be
a report on my interview with
their Political Editor Simon Walters.
In fact, the piece bore little or no relation to our interview, and
appears to be simply a pre-cooked hatchet job, packed with deliberate and
defamatory lies. I have written to Mr. Walters in the following
terms.
Simon Walters - Political Editor, Mail on Sunday
Dear Simon,
A few days ago I took time out of my busy by-election schedule for an
interview with you. You raised the issue of homosexuality. I was reluctant to
spend time on it, as it is not high on my agenda and it certainly doesn’t seem
to exercise voters in Newark -- it has never once been raised with me in the
street or on the doorstep. And I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the
media’s relentless obsession with a few tangential remarks on social issues from
years ago, and reluctance to address the real issues of either the
euro-elections or the Newark campaign. Nevertheless I answered your questions
clearly and honestly.
So I was shocked to read your subsequent story, in which you assert that
I “called for gay cures on the NHS”. This is a deliberate and defamatory lie.
I said no such thing. You have deliberately and knowingly published a false
and defamatory statement a few days ahead of a critical by-election, with
the prima facie objective of influencing the outcome of that
election. I understand that this represents an offence under electoral
law
The question arose because of a minor furore in the media three years ago
over therapists and/or religious groups who claimed to be able to reverse an
individual’s sexual orientation. There was a great deal of strident and
aggressive criticism from the gay lobby at the time, both against those offering
such “treatment”, and against individuals who sought it. I felt that this
criticism was deeply illiberal, and that if an individual believes that a course
of treatment would help him, or might help him, then in a free country he should
be entitled to pursue it.
I also made a comparison with homeopathy, another therapy about whose
efficacy there is widespread scepticism. I don’t know whether a person’s sexual
orientation can be changed, and I don’t know if homeopathy works. In both cases
I doubt it. But as a libertarian I defend the right of those who think either
might work to engage with them.
Let’s be clear: I have never said that homosexuality is “an illness”, or
that it can be “cured”. I have never asserted that homosexuals can be
“turned”. I have never advocated “gay cures”.
In particular I would vehemently oppose any move to offer “gay cures” on
the NHS. No treatment should be offered on the NHS unless it is of proven
clinical efficacy and demonstrable cost-effectiveness. I am not aware of any
proposal to offer “gay cures” on the NHS -- this appears to be a figment of your
imagination. But if there were any such proposal, I should oppose it robustly.
Your suggestion that I “called for gay cures on the NHS” is a downright and
preposterous lie, and a deliberate attempt to damage my reputation.
In fact you have not written up our interview at all. You have simply
written up your own preconceived stereotype of what a UKIP candidate might be
like, and you have totally ignored what I actually said to you. This is nothing
less than a deliberate hatchet job.
Nowhere is your trashy journalism more evident than in your description
of me as “a retired colonel”. Had you asked, or had you done a scrap of
relevant research, you would have found that I am not a retired colonel, and
that I have never served in the Armed Forces at any time.
Will you please now issue an immediate retraction and apology, ahead of
Thursday’s by-election. If you fail to do so, I shall certainly refer the
matter to the Press Complaints Commission, and I will also consider what legal
remedies may be available.
ROGER HELMER MEP
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