Politics

Details have emerged of the email that has caused such a headache for Gordon Brown.

Damian McBride's e-mails set out plans for a vicious smear campaign against the Tories, which forced the resignation of one of the prime minister’s most senior aides.

One slur involved accusing a gay Tory MP of promoting his partner’s business interests in the Commons.

The operation was designed to target David Cameron, the Conservative leader, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, and three other Tory MPs.

Read more: Gay Slur In Downing Street Aide Email

MSPs voted unanimously in favour of a new law widening the definition of hate crimes to include attacks on gay people making them aggravated offences that can be more severely punished.

Proposed by Green MSP Patrick Harvie, the bill is expected to become law later this year.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said it would send out a signal that such crimes would not be tolerated, "People whoever they are, whatever disability they are afflicted by, whatever sexual orientation they possess, are entitled to the full protection of the law and to be treated with dignity, with compassion, and to be fully and properly protected."

Read more: Anti-Gay Hate crime Law to be Extended in Scotland

Plans have been backed by a Holyrood committee which could lead to tougher penalties for crimes against gay people and the disabled.

The Scottish Government has already said it will support the bill, which means it is now almost certain to become law.

The go-ahead was given by The Justice Committee to a bill by Green MSP Patrick Harvie which would make it an "aggravating" factor if victims of crime were targeted because of their sexual orientation or disability. The Bill would not automatically create a harsher penalty but courts would have to take the motivation into account when deciding on a sentence. Racial and religiously-motivated crimes are already covered by this area of law.

The bill is expected to be debated in the Scottish Parliament in April.

The High Court has ordered the Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, to return a gay man who was removed from the UK to his native country.

Jacqui Smith was order to use her best endeavours to bring the failed asylum seeker back from his homeland.

The UK Border Agency effectively denied 'Mr X' the right to seek legal advice before his removal, the judge ruled. Neither the 38-year-old nor his home country can be named for fear he will be persecuted. The judge said Mr X's removal by UK Border Agency officers was "manifestly unlawful".

"It seems to me they deliberately misled him to avoid him making any contact with the Refugee Legal Centre," the judge said.
"Justice requires he should, if possible, be brought back to this country so that he can make his claim as effectively as he can. Without hesitation, I exercise my discretion to grant the claimant a mandatory order that the secretary of state should use her best endeavours to secure his return to the UK."

Read more: Home Secretary Ordered To Return Gay Man

The inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama has brought a whole number of LGBT-related political developments: nine new appointments were revealed to be in the works, a gesture was made, and an unexpected skeleton emerged from a completely overlooked archival closet.

Most significant by far, in terms of political importance, are the new appointments, albeit in various stages of being vetted, finalized, and announced.

Openly gay National Zoo Director John Berry is being named to head the Office of Personnel Management. It's a tad short of the secretary of interior position gay leaders had hoped for but it's the highest-ranking position ever for an openly gay appointee. The Office of Personnel Management, with more than 5,000 employees and an annual budget of about $1.5 billion, is the hiring agency of the federal government's 3 million-strong civilian workforce.

Read more: Obama Appoints White House Gays