In 1994, he asked his fellow MP Bob Spink: “Why does my honourable friend think that the solution to two 18-year-olds consenting to have sex is to send them to prison?” He was the only member of the shadow front bench to vote at every opportunity to lower the age of consent for gay sex to 16.Colleagues were well aware of his sexuality Now the public know too.. Deprived communities such as former mining towns with high unemployment rates are not getting their fair share of lottery cash and should receive more help when applying for funds, a Government report said yesterday. The grants would be easy to apply for with less red tape and quicker decisions.The shift in emphasis follows accusations that millions of pounds of lottery funding have been diverted to high-profile or “elitist” projects such as the Dome and Royal Opera House.”In eight years the National Lottery has funded over 100,000 projects in the UK. It is a resounding success,” said Ms Jowell.”But just as Camelot are adapting the way in which the game is played, so the Government wants to review how proceeds are shared out.”Many members of the public have little idea of where the money from lottery tickets goes and more should be done to raise the profile of good causes, the report says.The public should have more influence at a local level over where lottery cash goes, the report concludes.A national lottery day, which would involve organisations that have obtained lottery funding opening their doors without charge to the public, could help to “raise awareness”. Tony Blair is facing a bruising confrontation with Britain’s biggest unions at their annual conference over the use of private companies to deliver public services and cut NHS waiting lists. Other motions attack poor wages for public-sector workers and accuse the Government of creating a “two-tier workforce” where staff employed by private companies earn less than public-sector colleagues doing the same job.Unison attacks the Government’s use of City auditors such as Andersen as consultants on private finance initiative (PFI) projects. A motion calls on the TUC to “investigate the ‘big four’ accountancy firms and their conflicting role through advising both public authorities and private companies”.The GMB says the Government’s “privatisation programme has led to the demise of quality public services”.It calls for better laws to protect the pay, pension rights and employment conditions of public-sector workers and more cash for nurses, teachers and other public staff to help “attract, motivate and retain” them.

Its motion “insists that privatisation is an ineffective way to reform or expand Britain’s public services”.The union calls for a stop to PFI projects, which it says are “riddled with pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo designed to ensure that projects always appear to offer value for money”.The congress will also debate motions about the falling value of occupational pensions and will call for new laws to guarantee that unions are consulted in advance by companies planning important decisions such as the closure of a factory.Last year, Mr Blair avoided a showdown with the unions when his scheduled appearance was cancelled because of the 11 September attacks. This year he will face a rebellious conference, which will put further strain on Labour’s stormy relationship with the unions. The conference follows months of industrial unrest and the ousting of Mr Blair’s closest union ally, Sir Ken Jackson, who was head of Amicus.. Deep divisions in the Tory Party’s attitudes to homosexuality were exposed yesterday when a leading activist criticised Alan Duncan for announcing he is gay. “South of the Watford Gap people accept homosexuality as a norm.

I don’t think the North of England has quite accepted it in the same way. What disturbs me is people feel they have to come out and say what they are. We don’t come out and say we are normal and happily married with 2.4 children,” she told Radio 4’s World at One.Iain Duncan Smith welcomed Mr Duncan’s revelation but Ann Widdecombe was lukewarm. She said the party should spend less time worrying about its “ideological purity” and concentrate on attacking the Government.. Leading High Street banks will be heavily criticised today by an influential Commons committee over their charges and the difficulty customers have in switching banks. This can be as much as four to five times the base rate of 4 per cent.The MPs are also expected to criticise the complexity of the charges. During a grilling of the heads of Barclays, Lloyds TSB, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland in May, one bank chief conceded that it sometimes required calculus to work out the costs and the best deal.Even though banks quote the same annual interest rate, actual charges can vary by as much as 40 per cent.During the hearing, the Labour MP John McFall, the committee chairman, criticised the banks for being too greedy.