Gordon Brown Issues Posthumous Apology to Bletchley Park Codebreaker
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown today issues a posthumous apology to a Second World War code breaker who killed himself after being tried and convicted of being homosexual.

The Prime Minister said Alan Turing was treated “terribly". Mr Brown was responding to a campaign to get a formal apology from the Government. Thousands of people have signed a Downing Street petition.

However a formal apology is not possible as Mr Turing has no known surviving family. Instead Mr Brown offered a personal apology.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, he said: “Alan Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of the Second World War could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Friday, September 11, 2009

Gordon Brown Issues Apology for 'Inhumane' Treatment of Alan Turing
TIMES ONLINE: Gordon Brown has issued a formal government apology to Alan Turing, the Second World War code-breaker who committed suicide after being found guilty of gross indecency with another man.

The Prime Minister last night said that Turing, who took his own life in 1954, had been treated “inhumanely”.

He also paid tribute to Turing's work cracking the German Enigma codes at Bletchley Park, which historians believe hastened the end of the war in Europe by as much as two years.

Writing on the Downing Street website after around 30,00 signed a petition calling for an apology, Mr Brown said that 2009 had been a year for “deep reflection” and a chance for Britain “to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before”.

He went on: “I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing.”

The petition was the idea of John Graham-Cumming, a computer scientist, and pays tribute to Turing as "the greatest computer scientist ever born in Britain". Among those throwing their weight behind the campaign was the gay actor and TV star Stephen Fry, who urged his 750,000 followers on Twitter to sign up to the petition.

Describing Mr Turing as a “quite brilliant mathematician”, the Prime Minister said: “It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war.

“The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ’gross indecency’ — in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence — and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison — was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.

“Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him.” >>> Philippe Naughton | Friday, September 11, 2009

Petition Prompts No. 10 Apology Over Code Breaker Turing
THE INDEPENDENT: Gordon Brown issued an apology to a Second World War code-breaker who committed suicide after being found guilty of gross indecency with another man.

The Prime Minister last night said Alan Turing, who took his own life in 1954, had been treated "inhumanely" and paid tribute to his work cracking the German Enigma codes.

Writing on the Downing Street website after thousands signed a petition calling for an apology, Mr Brown said 2009 had been a year for "deep reflection" and a chance for Britain "to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before" because of the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landings and the 70th anniversary of the UK's commitment to fight fascism. >>> Craig Woodhouse, Press Association | Friday, September 11, 2009

NUMBER 10:
Treatment of Alan Turing was “appalling” – PM >>> | Thursday, September 10, 2009

Related:
The Turing Enigma: Campaigners Demand Pardon for Mathematics Genius >>> Jonathan Brown, The Independent | Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Turing Enigma: Campaigners Demand Pardon for Mathematics Genius
THE INDEPENDENT: He should have been hailed a hero for his wartime codebreaking. Instead he was prosecuted for his homosexuality and took his own life. So why has Britain never said sorry? Jonathan Brown reports

He may have played a pivotal role in securing victory in the Second World War for his country six years earlier, but few outside the academic community would have recognised Alan Turing as he made his way down Manchester's Oxford Street shortly before Christmas in 1951. Someone who did notice the athletically-built scientist, however, was a young working class gay man called Arnold Murray.

Homosexuality was still illegal under the same repressive laws which had sent Oscar Wilde to jail half a century earlier. But regardless of the risk, the chance encounter was to develop into something more substantial and Murray spent a number of nights at the older man's modest home in suburban Wilmslow.

A month later, after Turing, a veteran of the then still secret Bletchley Park code-cracking team, had been giving a talk to the BBC on his pioneering work on artificial intelligence, he returned home to find his house burgled.

The culprit was an acquaintance of Murray's, who would prey on Murray's lovers, thinking they would be so afraid of being outed that they would not report the thefts to the police.

But Turing defied this convention and went straight to the police, where he admitted his affair – a "crime" for which he was spared the normal two-year jail term in favour of a hormonal treatment designed to beef up his masculine urges and suppress his homosexuality. The resulting publicity was to prove too much to bear and in June 1954, the 41-year-old was found dead in bed by his housekeeper. He had eaten an apple he had laced with poison.

The consequences which unfolded were not only a tragedy for Turing, his friends and family, it also robbed the world of one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. Now campaigners are demanding an official apology from the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, recognising the "consequences of prejudice that ended his career". More than 700 people have signed a petition started by the leading computer scientist John Graham-Cumming on the Downing Street website, including gay rights campaigners, politicians and scientists.

"What really annoyed me about this was here was a man who died in his early 40s because he was a homosexual. He was a war hero but here was a part of our history that we were turning a blind eye to when we should be celebrating it. There were a lot of homosexual people during the war doing incredible work – if it was not for Turing we would most likely be having this conversation in German," Mr Graham-Cumming said. >>> Jonathan Brown | Tuesday, August 18, 2009

A Government in Denial: Islamisation - ePetition Response
NUMBER 10: We received a petition asking:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to change government policy on Islamic immigration.”

Details of Petition:

“We, the undersigned, call on the UK government to stop Islamic immigration, save in cases of persons fleeing Sharia ‘justice’ or Islamic ‘honour’ retribution. We call for the reversal of the current trend towards official acceptance of things Islamic: the way of life, the treatment of women and animals, the objections to free speech and artistic expression, the Islamic schools and mosques; in the mistaken belief that integration between Islamic and British communities is possible, a belief at odds with the Islamic immigrant ghettoes and enclaves where other British citizens are unwelcome or even endangered. Existing and proposed Muslim immigrants should be prepared to indicate formally a willingness to adapt to the British way of life in suitably defined ways, with new laws to give effect to the changes. We call for an end to all so-called ‘faith schools’, and to all instances of privileged political status being given to religious organizations.”

The government’s response:

Thank you for your e-petition which calls on the Government to stop Islamic immigration.

Shari’a law is not part of the law in England and Wales and the Government does not believe that there has been an “encroachment of Islam” upon British society. We are also proud that the UK is a welcoming and tolerant society. >>> | Monday, August 10, 2009