Wes Streeting offers elegant response after radio caller’s homophobic rant

Wes Streeting urged followers to ‘be strong by being you’ after a widely-shared clip showed a caller on LBC being branded a dinosaur after claiming there are ‘too many gays in charge’

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Wes Streeting has hit back after a radio caller’s homophobic rant questioning the decision to make him Defence Secretary.

The Labour frontbencher urged followers to “be strong by being you” after a clip of the exchange was widely shared online. The caller, named John, was labeled a “dinosaur” and told he should be ashamed of himself by host Henry Riley.

Mr Riley closed off the exchange by telling John to “give your head a wobble” after he claimed there were “too many gays in charge” and hit out at Mr Streeting.

The Cabinet member, who was appointed to the new role by Andy Burnham, has previously revealed he has faced an “unbelievable” volume of homophobic abuse. He posted on X: “Water off a duck’s back. My message to every single young person who worries about encountering this sort of thing in their lives and careers is simple: we are stronger, they are weaker, and the future is brighter.”

In a follow-up post he wrote: “I also want to share something with those struggling with abuse because of who you are or who you love. It might feel hard now, but it gets better. You will build resilience and you will find – in time – strength from your experience. Be proud. Be strong by being you.”

During the exchange John said it was a “ridiculous idea to put him (Mr Streeting) in charge of the Ministry of Defence. Asked whether he thought the Defence Secretary was unqualified, he said: “No, it’s because he’s. gay, and he talks very camp.”

Mr Riley responded: “John, you are an absolute dinosaur. You should be ashamed of yourself.” The caller insisted Mr Streeting would not be taken seriously, the which the host said: “He’s our Defence Secretary. He’s one of the most competent politicians we actually have at the moment, whether you like him or not.

“You’re seriously saying that because of his sexuality he’s not going to be taken seriously? Not by idiots like you.” John then whined about Mr Streeting’s “camp way of speaking” before stating: “We’ve got too many gays in charge.”

Mr Riley hit back: “Thank God we haven’t got any idiots like you in charge, John. Could you imagine what the state the country would be in if we had muppets like you in charge with complete dinosaur views?”

And he finished off by saying: “John, give your head a wobble, mate, yeah?” Mr Streeting was Health Secretary for nearly two years under Keir Starmer before resigning in protest over the former PM’s leadership.

He accused Mr Starmer of lacking vision, and was touted as a possible contender for the top job before Mr Burnham re-entered Parliament.

Last week he said he had experienced an “unbelievable volume” of online homophobia since his appointment. Mr Streeting told the Edinburgh Fringe that some “cannot cope with the idea” of a gay Defence Secretary.

He said: ““I am proud of the fact that in my lifetime we’ve gone from gay people not being allowed to serve in the military to a gay defence secretary.

“And in my first week, someone in the MoD said to me, you know, as a gay man, I’m really proud that we have our first gay defence secretary, and it means a lot to many of us who remember the bad old days.”