An SNP MP has launched a bid to automatically pardon all those cautioned or convicted under homophobic laws no longer on the statute book.

East Dunbartonshire MP John Nicolson hopes that his Private Members' Bill at Westminster can become the “Turing Law”.

It is named after the famous World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing, the subject of the recent Oscar-winning film The Imitation Game.

Mr Turing's work to crack Germany's Enigma machine helped bring the war to an end.

He later took his own life after he underwent chemical castration following a conviction for homosexual activity.

In 2014 he was granted a posthumous royal pardon 59 years after his death.

But the SNP say that it is wrong that thousands of other convicted under the same or similar homophobic laws have not been granted a pardon and apology.

Mr Nicolson said: "The criminalisation of thousands of gay and bisexual men, who were cautioned, convicted, imprisoned and even castrated under homophobic laws that banned sex between consenting adult men is a blemish on our history that we must now apologise and atone for as a society.

“While nothing we do now can fully make amends for the cruel discrimination that these men suffered, I hope that this Bill goes some way towards redressing these wrongs and gives a sense of closure for these men and their families.”

A number of his party colleagues have also put forward Private Members' Bill.

A total of 458 MPs put their names forward for 20 slots.

Eilidh Whiteford, the MP for Banff and Buchan, has tabled a Bill that would force the UK to ratify the Istanbul convention on tackling domestic violence.

Mhairi Black, the Paisley MP, has put forward a PMB requiring that the circumstances of benefits claimants are considered before sanctions can be applied.