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“Venomous” comments about the LGBTQ+ community from senior Conservative politicians have been condemned by Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney’s MP.

Gerald Jones MP spoke in Westminster Hall during the ‘Hate Crime Against the LGBT+ Community’ debate on October 18. 

The debate was secured by Cardiff South and Penarth MP Stephen Doughty and came during National Hate Awareness Week, which runs from October 14 to 21.

In the chamber, Labour MP Mr Doughty, who is also co-chair of the LGBT+ Parliamentary Labour Party, said: “This is a perilous and profoundly uncertain time for the LGBT+ community in the UK.

“I would never seek to downplay the even worse threats of death and violence, let alone the absence of basic legal rights in many other contexts globally, but I can genuinely say that we are not in a good place here and things are getting worse.”

He continued: “I will refer to my own experiences, which are sadly all too common for others. I have been assaulted with a homophobic element in my own constituency in broad daylight.

“I have been told online by somebody that he would sort me and my issues out while I was at football, while posting pictures of me dressed up at Pride.”

Mr Doughty added that rather “than belittling the impact of hate crime” or suggesting that it is a “woke” irrelevance, it is “critical” to look at the impact of attacks and the impact they have. 

According to statistics released by the Home Office on October 5, there were 145,214 hate crimes in the year from March 2022 to March 2023. 

This is a 5% decrease compared to the previous year but a 38.6% increase from March 2018 to March 2019. 

In the debate, Mr Doughty added: “My force, South Wales Police, provided me with its latest statistics. Just in the period from October last year to September this year, the force recorded 645 hate crimes related to sexual orientation, resulting in 33 charges, and 170 reports of transgender-related hate crimes, resulting in five charges.”

Other MPs raised issues relating to how life can be even harder for black and ethnic LGBTQ+ people and the surge in transphobic hate crimes. 

Speaking in the debate, Gerald Jones asked Mr Doughty if he agreed that “the particularly venomous comments from the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and other senior Tories do nothing to support those figures and will increase the problem further?”

At the recent Conservative Party conference, home secretary Suella Braverman and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke about gender identity. 

Mr Sunak told the conference: “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t, a man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.”

In response to Mr Jones, Mr Doughty said: “The effects of hate crime are deep and pernicious. They can unravel the lives of those who are among the most vulnerable in our society.”

He continued: “ We have colleagues here from across the United Kingdom. The Police Service of Northern Ireland records transphobic incidents and crimes motivated by transphobia, but unfortunately, there is no enhanced sentencing for that motivation or hostility. 

“We see a more positive picture in Wales, despite the statistics. The Welsh Labour Government’s LGBTQ+ action plan specifically covers safety, online hate, improving reporting and investing in local hate crime prevention programmes. In Scotland, there is a hate crime strategy focused on data, tackling crime online and on public transport, and supporting organisations working on these issues.”

He added: “I pay tribute to all those who have been affected in that way, to their families and to all victims. But for many other victims of less violent offences, the crime itself is only the beginning.”