Wes Streeting deluged with homophobic hate mail since becoming defence secretary

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said he has been deluged with homophobic hate mail since his appointment, noting that he has experienced more online homophobia in the past three weeks than in his entire life. Streeting said he had received an "unbelievable volume" of maltreatment due to the fact that radical "couldn't cope" with the thought of an openly cheery idiosyncratic starring the equipped forces. In an interrogation with the Iain Dale All Talk podcast astatine the Edinburgh Fringe, helium said his caller relation was an accidental for him to show spot and "to situation the benignant of stereotype that intelligibly persists successful acheronian corners of the internet". Homosexuality started being decriminalised successful the UK successful 1967, but a prohibition continued successful the equipped forces until 2000. Speaking on the podcast, Streeting said: "I person experienced much online homophobia successful the past 3 weeks than I person successful my full life." "An unbelievable volume, due to the fact that radical cannot header with the thought that a cheery idiosyncratic mightiness pb the equipped forces of the United Kingdom." "Being the archetypal openly cheery defence caput has been astir wholly unremarked upon successful the media," helium added. "And I think, 'great, present we are successful the 3rd decennary of the 21st period it doesn't matter, brilliant'. But of people online it matters to a batch of people." "And I americium arrogant of the information that successful my beingness we've gone from cheery radical not being capable to service successful the subject to a cheery defence secretary." However, Streeting said helium had besides been congratulated by radical successful the Ministry of Defence for being a awesome of progress. He said: "In my archetypal week, idiosyncratic successful the MoD said to me: 'As a cheery man, I'm truly arrogant that we person our archetypal cheery defence caput - It means a batch to galore of america who retrieve the atrocious aged days.' I was rather touched by that."