A Parliamentary Bill calling for Alan Turing to receive a posthumous pardon received its second reading in the House of Lords yesterday.
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Sharkey’s bill calls for the pardon of code-beaker Alan Turing, who was prosecuted for homosexual acts of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952.
Manchester MP, John Leech who has led the campaign for Turing to be pardoned, describing him as “a Manchester and national hero” is delighted a the Bills progress and expects to pick the Bill up in the House of Commons next year after the third reading in the House of Lords in October.
John is elated by the success of the bill and its prospects for the future.
He said:
“Given that all party support for the campaign, I am confident the bill will be passed in the Commons. The persecution by the state for being gay is a scandal that shouldn’t be allowed to stand and it is only right that we are pushing for this posthumous pardon. Alan Turing was a Manchester hero and a national hero. He helped shorten the war and was then persecuted by the state for his sexuality. He should be pardoned and this would be a fitting way of saluting his memory.”
Lord Sharkey who put forward the Bill to the House of Lords, said:
“Alan Turing was a truly great Briton. He was the father of computing; his legacy is with us every time anyone uses a computer anywhere in the world.
“If my Bill becomes law, as I hope it will, then this will finally go some way towards acknowledging the debt we all owe to Alan Turing and grant him the free pardon he so clearly deserves.”
Alan Turing was a mathematical genius and played a key role in the invention of the modern day computer through his work at Manchester University. Today he is remembered principally as a code-breaker due to his significant war role in cracking the Nazi’s enigma code which helped ensure victory for England.
After publicly admitting his homosexuality, Turing was sentenced to chemical castration. He killed himself in 1954 after suffering severe depression.
The debate was also attended by Baroness Trumpington, a former code breaker at Bletchley Park at the same time as Turing, who praised this bill which received unanimous support by the House.
Pictured with Lord Sharkey and John Leech, MP is William Jones (centre) who launched the original e-petition to grant Turing a pardon which attracted 37,100 signatures.
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