The Times reports RLB's pledge

[BovaryX]

The Times reports on Rebecca LB's pledge and quotes Selina Todd refuting charges of transphobia. None of the Labour contenders have explicitly defended sex as a immutable, biological fact. Policies to mitigate sex based oppression become meaningless if anyone can identify as a woman. Labour have been at the vanguard of such policies; women only shortlists for example. Labour's blinkered adoption of the bankrupt tautology of identity politics has led it into a cul de sac. It continues to demonstrate a laughable dislocation from voters and a narrow, ideological fixation. Both of which render it unfit to govern.

“I find it very worrying,” Selina Todd, a professor of history at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, said. “I am against any transphobia. But one of the extraordinary things about the declaration that Rebecca Long Bailey has signed up to is that it suggests women should be defined as a gender, rather than as a sex

[BovaryX]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/90c8ed3c-4db6-11ea-b112-75acb94b3417?shareToken

[thecompletenonsequitur]

I see James Kirkup has a piece in the Comments section too.

[Igneococcus]

Here is the Kirkup comment:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/af9d1948-4dd6-11ea-92ed-35f8fca55a87?shareToken=cfb05d7e785ae99f7af442a159947262

[ChattyLion]

Sunlight and fresh air... nobody trusts politicians who lie right to our faces and are intimidated by a powerful lobby, who refuse to listen to evidence of harm, who deny facts, and who try to foist only their religious beliefs on everyone else on threat of punishment for thoughtcrime. It’s not complicated. We’re not stupid.

[Melroses]

Does anyone have a share token for the article in the OP?

BovaryX's link is not working.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Try this


www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rebecca-long-bailey-vows-to-expel-transphobic-labour-members-jwdgxvmf9?shareToken=8c8eeff5cc0a16f8bd553205f15dbe5f

[ThinEndoftheWedge]

Thanks for the sharetoken

Angela Rayner, a contender for the deputy leadership, has also signed the pledge, saying: “Our solidarity is long overdue — the Labour Party should always be an open and safe space for all.”

But not for those who think girls deserve the safety, dignity and privacy afforded by single sex toilets, changing rooms, sport etc...

Are they really happy for their daughters/nieces etc to be in a communal changing room with a self ID bloke? Of course bloody not..

[Mossyrock]

"Angela Rayner, a contender for the deputy leadership, has also signed the pledge, saying: “Our solidarity is long overdue — the Labour Party should always be an open and safe space for all.”

"Ms Nandy wrote. “Rather than allow women to be pitted against one another, the Labour Party should always be an open and safe space for all”

Oh the irony.

"Ms Long Bailey said: “I’m a firm believer in self-identification and I’d like that brought into UK law because we need to end the discussion on this.”

Do we? Why?

[Mossyrock]

Sorry, crossposted ThinEnd.

[ThinEndoftheWedge]

@Mossyrock

No - just great minds thinking alike

[Melroses]

Thank you x

[Languishingfemale]

The comments under that article are great - so many more people understand the issues with lots of labour supporters despairing.

[Awning10]

Also now in the Mail:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7994935/Labour-civil-war-trans-rights-Rebecca-Long-Bailey-backs-controversial-campaign.html

[BovaryX]

Sorry Melrose about my link and thank you Errol for posting a functioning link. Here's a snippet from James Kirkup. Great article by him. Labour have lost the plot on this. The Stalinist purges? Denouncing WPUK as a 'hate group?' Beyond parody. And thankfully unelectable....

Long Bailey may calculate that this plays well with some Labour members, although the thousands of them tweeting #expelme following her move suggests not all are yet signed up to identity politics and witch-hunting.What will voters make of this? A post mortem of Labour’s election campaign conducted by Lord Ashcroft showed that, by pushing “progressive” issues and suppressing debate about their implications, many Labour supporters felt the party no longer shared their values

[ErrolTheDragon]

It's a bit of a shame that, presumably because of print deadlines, the focus is on RLB when it's actually the whole lot - Starmer just being a little more cautious but still TWAW.

No doubt the bromentum types will discount this reporting as the Tory press. I wonder if the Morning Star will cover it and what they'll say?

[ErrolTheDragon]

Ah, here's the Morning Star.

morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/labour-leadership-candidates-trigger-backlash-over-pledge-to-expel-transphobic-members

[BovaryX]

Errol
I absolutely agree that the focus on RLB distracts from the fact they are all signed up to this. Thank you for the Morning Star link, which mentions the breathless support of Owen Jones. The kiss of death.....

[GrumpyGran8]

the breathless support of Owen Jones
I sometimes wonder if OJ is aiming to be Labour's very own Dom Cummings....

[Ereshkigalangcleg]

Ms Long Bailey said: “I’m a firm believer in self-identification and I’d like that brought into UK law because we need to end the discussion on this.”

Really? No, I think not. Even if you do get it brought into law.

[PerfectParrot]

Trying to "end the discussion" on immigration by claiming everyone who opposed it was racist didn't exactly work out well did it? Labour clearly haven't learned their lesson from Brexit.

[AnyOldSpartabix]

My favourite comment:

’I would love to see Long Bailey's face if Keir Starmer transitioned and became the first "female" leader of the Labour party...’