Ministers and gay rights activists have reacted angrily to the enforced "outing" of another member of Mr Tony Blair's government. The Agriculture Minister, Mr Nick Brown, was obliged to confirm his sexual orientation in anticipation of newspaper reports yesterday concerning his private life.
The Prime Minister immediately made it clear he was standing by the Minister and that there was no question mark over his position in the cabinet.
In a statement issued through 10 Downing Street on Saturday night, Mr Brown (48) said he was "saddened" to have make the disclosure after the News of the World had put questions to him "concerning a past relationship".
The MP for Newcastle East and Wallsend said it was true that he had had a relationship with a man for over two years in the mid1990s. He had been aware that, after he had ended the relationship, "the man has been in contact with the media both before and since the election, with a view to selling his story about our relationship, and making false and unsubstantiated allegations about the nature of our relationship". These, said Mr Brown, "include the allegation that I paid him for sex" - an allegation the Minister "totally" denied.
Mr Brown said he was "saddened" by the enforced disclosure because he had always wanted to keep his sexuality private.
"I am saddened that he has tried to sell his story in this way. I have always wanted to keep my private life and my sexuality private. That is my choice and I have always believed it is a choice I and any other citizen should be entitled to make" he said. He continued: "I am sorry that because of the account he has given the News of the World I have been put in a position where I had to speak publicly about this part of my life, and that people very dear to me will find out about it in this way. The publication of this story will be upsetting not just to me but to friends and family. I am deeply embarrassed about this, not least on behalf of my constituents."
Asking for their understanding, Mr Brown assured them, "as I have assured the Prime Minister, that there is nothing in my past or present to give them any doubt in my ability to serve them and the government".
The Prime Minister's spokesman said Mr Blair was satisfied with Mr Brown's account of the relationship. The News of the World made no move to publish the allegations. The paper's editor, Mr Phil Hall, said: "The News of the World approached Number 10 after a young man gave us an unsubstantiated account of a relationship with Nick Brown. Mr Brown then volunteered a statement which we have published in full. We have not published the young man's account in any form."
Ministers swiftly rallied to Mr Brown's support yesterday. The Defence Secretary, Mr George Robertson, said he had no knowledge of or wish to know about the Minister's private life. "What people do in their private lives, as long as it doesn't affect others, is a matter for them, and I think that's the view of the majority of the British people."
The leader of the Commons, Mrs Margaret Beckett, said: "Nick Brown is a very hard-working and a very good Minister. His private life is his private life, it is his own business and that of his family and friends. He is a very good friend of mine . . ."
PA adds: Mr Brown stayed away from yesterday's Cenotaph Remembrance Day commemoration "to avoid distracting attention from the solemn ceremony".
Mr Peter Tatchell, of the "Outrage" pressure group, said: "It is appalling that Nick Brown has been pressured into coming by the threat of kiss-and-tell revelations concerning his private life."There is no justification for outing MPs unless they are behaving in ways that are hypocritical or homophobic."