§ Mrs. WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether the Government have made or intend to make any investigation into the scale or pattern of violent attacks, motivated by homophobic prejudice, against lesbians and gay men;
(2) whether the Government have any plans to initiate a study of the value of keeping police records of incidents of anti-gay violence with a view to developing appropriate police countermeasures to stamp out homophobic attacks.
§ Mr. John Patten[holding answer 2 July 1990]: We have no plans to do so. All such assaults are to be deplored in exactly the same way as any crime of violence. A high priority is attached to the investigation of violence offences, three quarters of which are cleared up by the police.