Decades After Persecution and Suicide, Alan Turing Gets a Pardon

Better late than never

Alan Turing, the Enigma codebreaker who took his own life after being convicted of gross indecency under anti-homosexuality legislation, is to be given a posthumous pardon.

The government signalled on Friday that it is prepared to support a backbench bill that would pardon Turing, who died from cyanide poisoning at the age of 41 in 1954 after he was subjected to "chemical castration".

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, a government whip, told peers that the government would table the third reading of the Alan Turing (statutory pardon) bill at the end of October if no amendments are made. "If nobody tables an amendment to this bill, its supporters can be assured that it will have speedy passage to the House of Commons," Ahmad said.

Comments

[Aresen]

Well, a pardon, however belated, is in order.

As many of the commenters on the Guardian thread noted, the pardon should actually extend to everyone who was convicted under the statute.

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Side note: I am amused by the leftist Guardian Commentariat, who keep referring to Turing as a "Great Man" and someone who "saved the country. Generally, leftists will tell you that the "Great Man" theory of history is bunk.