Gay MP Hannah Bardell to report Lord Ken Maginnis for calling her 'queer'

Hannah Bardell, who is MP for Livingston, named the unelected Lord Maginnis in the House of Commons on Wednesday accusing him of verbally abusing security staff in the Houses of Parliament in Westminster on Tuesday.

The Huffington Post UK Deputy Political Editor, Arj Singh, reported in an exclusive interview that Lord Maginnis did not counter any of Ms. Bardell's accusations and said: "queers like Ms Bardell don't particularly annoy me. OK, she's got her cheap publicity out of it."

“She [Hannah Bardell MP] and I are known to be on other sides – I am opposed to abortion, I am opposed to gay people like her seeking to change marriage.

“You might say I’m old fashioned, or you could say I’m conservative in Biblical terms – I mean, I’m not a preacher or anything.

“She obviously, being what she is and wanting to make changes, decided she would score a few points for herself.

“With no disrespect, I have had a lot of experience before politics.

“I was a major for 12 years in the Ulster Defence Regiment in Northern Ireland – I survived 10 assassination attempts – so I’m not altogether a softie, if you know what I mean by that.

“Queers like Ms Bardell don’t particularly annoy me.

“Okay, she’s got her cheap publicity out of it.”

Ms. Bardell raised the issue in the House of Commons again on Thursday during which time she accused the independent unionist peer of a "homophobic attack".

"I'm sorry to say that the member from the other place (the House of Lords) who I have complained about has now launched a homophobic attack on me in the press.

"This will be reported to the police and I know that I and others consider this to be a hate crime," she said.

Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs he found Lord Maginnis' comments to "disgraceful" and said Ms. Bardell "is clearly owed an apology".

"The attack on the honourable lady was unutterably disgraceful and she is clearly owed an apology by the noble lord for what he said about her," said Mr. Rees Mogg.

"I think everybody who heard about that was shocked by the comments that he is reported to have made and has not denied.

"I think they are really appalling, and I know we are not allowed to criticise members of the other house, the other place, except on a specific motion, but I think under these circumstances we are allowed to stretch the rules."