Prisons Ministerleaves wife after saying: I'm gay

A GOVERNMENT Minister who once spoke out against gays in the military last night announced he had separated from his wife because he is homosexual.

Crispin Blunt, the 50-year-old Tory MP and Prisons Minister, said he wanted to come to terms with his homosexuality and there was nobody else involved.

In a statement, his office said: “Crispin Blunt wishes to make it known that he has separated from his wife Victoria.

“He decided to come to terms with his homosexuality and explained the position to his family. The consequence is this separation.

“There is no third party involvement, but this is difficult for his immediate and wider family and he hopes for understanding and support for them.

“The family do not wish to make any further public comment and hope that their privacy will be respected as they deal with these difficult private issues.”

Mr Blunt, who was an officer in the Armed Forces before entering politics, opposed moves in 1998 to lift the ban on openly gay men serving in the military.

“The intangible that is military ethos has been progressively undermined,” he said at the time. “Letting overt gays in is another stage in this process.”

Mr Blunt was at the centre of a number of scandals and slip-ups in the early days of the coalition.

His plans to overturn a ban on comedy workshops and fancy dress parties for inmates earned him a public rebuke from Downing Street, which made it “very clear” there would be no prison parties under their watch.

His suggestion that criminals who said sorry could get shorter sentences also earned him widespread criticism.

Forwarding his media statement to MP colleagues last night, Mr Blunt said his family had been “extraordinarily understanding”.

“I know colleagues will appreciate the personal sensitivity of this, particularly for my family, who have been extraordinarily understanding,” he said in an email.

Fellow Tory MP Peter Bottomley and his wife Baroness (Virginia) Bottomley, the former Health Secretary, sent Mr and Mrs Blunt a message of support.

“Life is seldom for long as good or as bad as it appears,” the Bottomleys said.

“You have the good wishes of many. You do have our support and understanding.”

Mr Blunt is no stranger to controversy, having resigned from a previous post in 2003 as he called for a vote of no confidence in then-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.

He is among the latest MPs to publicly confirm their homosexuality. Former Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws stood down from the Cabinet within weeks of taking office in the coalition Government after he admitted channelling public money in rent to his long-term male partner.

Mr Blunt is the son of Major General Peter Blunt and Adrienne, marrying his wife Victoria Jenkins in 1990. They have one son and one daughter. He is uncle of Golden Globe-winning actress Emily Blunt.

Educated at Wellington College and then the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, he went on to have a successful military career before entering politics.

Mr Blunt was made special adviser to Defence Secretary Malcolm Rifkind in 1993, a role he continued as Mr Rifkind became Foreign Secretary in 1995. Two years later, he won the Reigate seat in Surrey.