Thousands Demand Apology Over Death Of Tech Icon Turing

A high-profile campaign has called on the UK government to apologise for the mistreatment and state-sponsored persecution of one of the Britain’s most important contributors to the development of modern computing.

Scientists and academics including Sir Richard Dawkins are backing an online petition calling on the government to publicly apologise for the treatment of computing pioneer Alan Turing who committed suicide in 1954 after being prosecuted and vilified for having relations with another man.

The petition, posted on the official website of the Prime Minister’s Office by computer scientist John Graham-Cumming, points out that while Turing’s contribution to the world of computing have been lauded, he suffered persecution for his sexuality which eventually drove him to suicide.

“The British Government should apologize to Alan Turing for his treatment and recognize that his work created much of the world we live in and saved us from Nazi Germany. And an apology would recognise the tragic consequences of prejudice that ended this man’s life and career,” the petition states.

Discussing the campaign on a podcast with fellow computer scientist Professor Noel Sharkey from the University of Sheffield, Graham-Cumming said that Turing’s development of the Turning machine before the Second World War laid the foundations for modern computer science and was also instrumental to the code-breaking work done at Bletchley Park during the war which is believed to have shortened the conflict.

“I can’t claim there is a 100 percent link between his death and his prosecution but two years after his prosecution he appeared to have committed suicide. He had apparently bitten into an apple that had been dipped in Potassium Cyanide and had killed himself,” said Graham-Cumming.

Graham-Cumming and Sharkey also discussed the possibility that Turing may actually have been murdered – including the theory that he may have been killed by the UK’s secret service to prevent his sexuality being used to blackmail him into revealing state secrets. “There doesn’t seem to have been any danger in Turing giving away any secrets as he appears to have been very open about being homosexual so it’s unlikely he would have been blackmailed…but there are people who say that maybe he was bumped off by M15 because he knew too many things.”

The online petition has attracted over 16,000 signatories so far including backers such as writer Ian McEwan and gay-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. “With Turing’s death, Britain and the world lost one of its finest intellectual minds. A government apology and posthumous pardon are long overdue,” said Tatchell.

In May this year, there were calls for the Bletchley Park site used by Turing and his fellow code-breakers to be elevated to the same status as the Imperial War Museum. However the government appeared to reject the claims citing the costs and work involved.

“The House is all too well aware of the significance of designating any area in association with a museum of that rank, but I want to give an assurance that Bletchley Park will continue to develop under the resources made available to it,” a government spokesperson said at the time.

Bletchley Park is being preserved as a museum, but has been facing a funding crises of late. It was recently awarded around £600,000 by Milton Keynes Council and English Heritage, as well as a further £100,000 by IBM and PGP.

To sign the petition go to the petitions page on Number10.gov.uk