Will Young “won’t stay” in the UK if the Conservatives win the next election, as he opened up about his fears as a gay man living in Tory Britain.
Speaking from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Monday (9 October), the singer said that the UK had become a hostile environment for LGBT+ people.
“I won’t stay in this country if [the Tories] win. No way. It’s too terrifying,” he told The Mirror, citing Suella Braverman’s recent comments referring to migrants as a “hurricane” and arguing that fearing persecution due to sexuality should not be enough to gain protection under international law.
“I feel scared when you see a Home Secretary stand up and pick on LGBT migrants and talking about hurricanes,” Young said. “They’re picking on minorities, it’s just terrifying. I don’t think they’re thinking about people in this country. They’re just not solving the problems.”
He continued: “It makes me feel a bit scared as a gay man. I haven’t really seen that before. It’s weird that I’m in my forties seeing politicians making such radical statements.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvements – gay marriage, equal rights. I’ve seen a lot of rights come my way and now we are seeing a Conservative Party going for minorities. I thought we’d got better. I’m not scared for my life, I’m scared for the country. It deliberately creates a climate of fear.”
Young came out as gay in 2002, fresh off his win on the inaugural series of Pop Idol. While Young never hid his sexuality, he was “forced” to share it after a tabloid newspaper threatened to out him.
Singer criticised the Tories at the Labour Party conference— (Getty Images)
Speaking in 2021 about coming out, Young recalled: “It was more just unnecessary stress. I wanted everybody to f*** off. I thought, ‘People are dying all over the world and you want to concentrate on this? Fine.’ That’s the way I still see it.
“Homophobia was still happening to me in public. It was a real patriarchal system run by straight white guys, so it was rife in the media, in the music industry. I don’t think we should be forgetting the people who were flying the flag at a time which was pretty tricky.”
While speaking at the Labour Party conference, where he was launching a campaign to demand a total ban on animal testing, Young said that he felt that “positive change is on the horizon”.
Showing support for Keir Starmer, he said: “I have felt very let down as a citizen. But now I feel very excited about the prospect of a change in government… I really do think people believe in Labour. They are so tired. People feel let down and are hopeful for Labour.”
