GNU/Andrew’s Blog

[...] may have already heard about Gordon Brown’s apology to Alan Turing (see my previous blog). I felt these empty words were worth little, and so posted a follow-up petition asking for Turing [...]

Hmmm… I did read Gordon Brown’s response, and I didn’t think there was anything particularly wrong with it. Basically, he acknowledged Turing’s mathematical contributions, he agreed that the treatment of homosexuals at the time was not particularly good, and that the laws have since been changed. He added some political gunf about recent government initiatives.

I don’t see that if you consider this to be hollow why anything more would be any better. An apology from someone who is not responsible is pretty pointless. A pardon is similarly not really applicable, as whether Turing or others was “guilty” of the “crime” or not is not really the issue here.

What you are really looking for is a statement that such cases should not have received the penalty handed down – which I don’t think that we need a send a second petition to #10 for; the law has already been changed to match your opinion on the matter.

Unfortunately, the law at the time was such that Turing and others were criminals. We can’t change history, and we can’t fudge what it means to be a criminal to make ourselves feel better about the country’s past.

DDD