BRITISH MPs face yet more potential sexual scandal this week with militant gays threatening to name homosexual MPs publicly if the age of consent for gay sex is not reduced to 16.
The Commons votes on the issue tonight, with polls showing that most people do not want the age of consent for gay sex reduced that far. The current age is 21.
People who want the age lowered to 18 outnumber by three to one those who want 16 to be the age of consent.
Outrage, a militant gay lobby group has threatened to name 60 gay MPs - slightly under one in 10 of the Commons membership - in a move condemned by MPs yesterday as blackmail.
They intend to complain to the Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, that it could be contempt of Parliament.
The change in the age has been prompted by former minister Edwina Currie in an amendment to legislation, but it seems likely that many MPs will abstain.
Meanwhile, Commons researcher Emily Barr - named as a lover of ministerial aide Hartley Booth - told her story in the tabloids yesterday, saying how Mr Booth was a considerate lover.