This quote from Gerald Howarth is an almost perfect example of how bigotry can be telegraphed but not made explicit by the careful use of words. The context is this story:

The Royal Air Force has called in a gay pressure group to help solve its recruitment crisis. The Service will take advice from Stonewall on how to make itself more attractive to homosexual and bisexual men and women, and is aiming to spend tens of thousands of pounds on advertising in the "pink" media.

And here's what Howarth has to say:

Gerald Howarth, the shadow Tory defence minister with responsibility for the RAF, said that he thought that "taxpayers would be aghast" that public money was being used to support a pressure group. "This is an extraordinary exercise in political correctness," he said. "The idea that the homosexual community is not already aware of the opportunities in the Armed Forces is ridiculous, and to go out and specifically recruit on the grounds of a person's sexuality seems to defeat the whole purpose of anti-discrimination legislation."

Mr Howarth can reply, when accused of bigotry, that nothing he has said is in any way biogted. And in one respect he's correct. The actual meaning of the words he uses, and the specifics of his compaint, are not bigoted.

But what lies underneath the words, and his complaint, is very different. It's clear what he intends to signal - that the services should not be recruiting gays.

Given that there is now no bar on homosexuality in the armed forces, it is plain common sense that they should seek to recruit from the ranks of gay men and women, just as they should from ethnic minorities, Northerners, Southerners, Uncle Tom Cobley and all.