Government rejects calls for Alan Turing to be granted official pardon for homosexuality conviction

PARDON REJECTED: Alan Turing

By Stephen Sumner

The government has rejected calls for wartime code-breaker Alan Turing to be granted an official pardon of his conviction of homosexuality from the 1950s.

After a petition of 23,000 signatures, Withington MP John Leech brought an Early Day Motion for the matter to be discussed in the House of Lords.

The pardon was dismissed by Justice Minister Lord McNally yesterday.

"A posthumous pardon was not considered appropriate as Alan Turing was properly convicted of what at the time was a criminal offence," he said.

"It is tragic that Alan Turing was convicted of an offence which now seems both cruel and absurd, particularly... given his outstanding contribution to the war effort."

"However, the law at the time required a prosecution and, as such, long-standing policy has been to accept that such convictions took place and, rather than trying to alter the historical context and to put right what cannot be put right, ensure instead that we never again return to those times."

Turing was a key code-breaker in the Enigma team who helped bring the Second World War to an end.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an official apology to Mr Turing in 2009 calling the treatment he had received "utterly unfair" and "appalling".

Turing was convicted in 1952 of gross indecency with another man and accepted chemical castration over being sent to prison.

His security clearance was then withdrawn, ceasing his ability to work for GCHQ. He committed suicide in 1954 at the age of 41.

This year marks the centenary of Alan Turing’s birth. The occasion is being marked by a series of events around the world including a commemorative postage stamp issued by Royal Mail.