Another Labour councillor resigns over Cambridge City Council's transgender policies

[StandWitch]

See www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/labour-councillor-kevin-price-resigns-from-cambridge-city-council-over-transgender-rights-motion-9127531/ and cf. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3322389-labour-councillor-quits-in-row-over-facilities-for-trans-people-the-times

A Labour councillor of 10 years and former deputy leader at Cambridge City Council has resigned over a motion on transgender rights.

The motion, brought by the Liberal Democrats to a session of the full council on Thursday (October 22), began with the words: “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary individuals are non-binary.”

It is quite possible that the previous shenanigans is what led to his resignation as deputy leader in 2018 www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/deputy-leader-of-cambridge-city-council-stands-down-9051099/ as the dates are the same

The motion, brought by the Liberal Democrats to a session of the full council on Thursday (October 22), began with the words: “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary individuals are non-binary.”

Kevin Price , who represented King’s Hedges for the Labour party, said he could not support those words, saying they would “send a chill down the spines” of “many women,” and saying it is “foolish to pretend” there are not widely different views or concerns about women’s rights.

He said he has not voted against a Labour motion in his 10 years on the council, and said he did not intend to break that “principle”, and instead announced his resignation to the meeting, saying there are times when conscience “must be weighed against the pull of party”.

A second Labour councillor, Carina O'Reilly has been targeted by TRAs www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/two-cambridge-labour-councillors-accused-19019555

She dared to retweet JK Rowling.

There is some detail on the council's motion here:

democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/documents/b15527/Information%20Pack%2022nd-Oct-2020%2018.00%20Council.pdf?T=9

Facilitating and strongly encouraging all Councillors to attend
Safer Spaces training
Safer Spaces training for councillors was delivered on 24th February
2020 for the first time and officers can run further sessions. Officers
have also been asked by Cllr Smith to book transgender awareness
training for councillors. The council also provides 2 training sessions on transgender awareness per year for staff delivered by The Kite Trust.

There is also something about consulting groups about which Pride flag they want flown.

Essentially this motion was to object to the government not making a new GRA.

[CaraDuneRedux]

Kings Hedges, if memory serves me, is one of the big council estates, along with Arbury, so I would guess Labour have just lost a really hard working grass roots activist who worked on things like poverty and social housing, in favour of pandering to the woke middle class student and academic vote.

[RozWatching]

Thanks for the link OP. I heard about this, the meeting was described as terrifying.
The religious-like fervour of the TWAW believers is really ramping up.

Does anyone know how to contact Kevin Price? I'd like to send him a card to thank him.

[wellbehavedwomen]

From the 'news' article:

Councillor Price has also shared tweets from Ann Sinnott, a former Cambridge Labour Councillor who started a crowdfunder to challenge the rights of transwomen.

So a woman seeking a Judicial Review on the rollback of women's rights, as protected under the Equality Act, is lied about by a 'journalist'. Is this person hoping for a job on Prick News? Certainly appears fully qualified in terms of ethics.

I'm grateful to the councillors. Especially the one teaching policing and criminal justice, who will therefore be very aware of the impact on women of conflating women's rights and transwomen's. The two are separate and need to exist in parallel - instead of which, female rights are being erased by male demands.

[morningtoncrescent62]

I just saw this link to Kevin Price's full speech on twitter. Well worth a listen. He's tagged in the tweet for anyone who wants to contact him.

twitter.com/LabWomenDec/status/1319571590728876033

[Tootletum]

This is all so fucked up. I have no idea what happens next.

[BlackForestCake]

This is all so fucked up. I have no idea what happens next.

They make a laughing stock of themselves, like Alabama denying evolution?

[BaronessWrongCrowd]

What a truly principled man. Thank you Mr Price.

[BlackForestCake]

Don't motions usually say things like: "This council believes that ..."

Was that not absolute enough? Did it imply an opinion that people were allowed to disagree with?

[Angryresister]

It is sad that labour is still putting male rights above those of females. Thank you to the councillors involved in standing up for women.

[thinkingaboutLangCleg]

I looked for Kevin Price on Cambridge council's page of councillors, and he has already been removed, presumably with his council email account also deleted. Didn't even get 24 hours for people to quickly drop him a message.

Into the Memory Hole he never existed move on now -- nothing to see here....

[thinkingaboutLangCleg]

Thanks for the link, Mornington. Kevin Price's resignation speech reminded me of Robin Cook's, when he resigned from the cabinet over the invasion of Iraq.

The good ones honourably resign and the lickspittles agree to everything and keep their jobs. No wonder we're in the shit.

[FairFridaythe13th]

They shine a light on the shenanigans. Hope everyone is watching and questioning.

[CaraDuneRedux]

Thank you, Kevin Price.

[MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes]

Does anyone else miss the times when councils administered services and managed the public purses rather than attempted to engage in rather amateur fashion with student simplifications of moralising?

[CaraDuneRedux]

@MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes

Does anyone else miss the times when councils administered services and managed the public purses rather than attempted to engage in rather amateur fashion with student simplifications of moralising?

Yes!

And as I said upthread, given the ward Kevin represented, I would put money on him having been exactly that sort of old fashioned councillor, working for decent services in one of the poorer areas of the city (it's not all punting down the backs swigging from a bottle of Bolly - I used to live in Arbury, and there are pockets of real poverty and deprivation).

[TBHno]

You know who benefits from all this nonsense in the long run?

The Tories, the right, the anti id-pol brigade.

So whilst Labour and LibDems may think that they're winning; they're not. they're really really not.

Joe Public is not a fan of id-pol, and 80% of people are Joe Public.

[CaraDuneRedux]

@TBHno

You know who benefits from all this nonsense in the long run?

The Tories, the right, the anti id-pol brigade.

So whilst Labour and LibDems may think that they're winning; they're not. they're really really not.

Joe Public is not a fan of id-pol, and 80% of people are Joe Public.

Yes. Identity politics is a form of extreme libertarianism, and the right have spotted, and are exploiting its potential as a Trojan horse to use in a divide-and-conquer strategy against the left.

So one of the poorest wards of the city will have lost an old school socialist councillor of the sort who defended public services. He'll no doubt be replaced by some woke numpty who only cares about fuckin pronouns.

Who benefits in this cluster fuck? The people in favour of cutting public services to the bone, that's who. Their job just got that bit easier.

[MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes]

That's actually a very pertinent point. As in local councils: so in national policy. I am not voting Labour any more while they support this and I abandoned hope with my natural representatives the Greens years ago. This rabbit hole is impoverishing us all and leaving us with no credibility to hold off the 'neoliberalist' capitalists.

[MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes]

This and the absolute denial around the complications of immigration.

[ChattyLion]

Thank you Kevin Price.

[Melroses]

@MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes

Does anyone else miss the times when councils administered services and managed the public purses rather than attempted to engage in rather amateur fashion with student simplifications of moralising?

It was a while ago, but I remember canvassing for a Labour councilor who wanted to sort out potholes and stuff. I think the previous incumbent was more into attending functions and stuff.

He duly did when he was elected. People want stuff done 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Melroses]

(sorry - a lot of stuffing there )

[nothingcomestonothing]

Thank you Kevin Price for the refreshing sanity and courage.

Where can I complain about that 'journalist'?

[boatyardblues]

@Melroses

(sorry - a lot of stuffing there )

Stuff is the word for our pandemic frazzled times. I can’t be the only one finding work knackering and struggling to retain words and information. Stuff is doing a lot of heavy lifting in my home and work life right now.

[Melroses]

Stuff is the word for our pandemic frazzled times. I can’t be the only one finding work knackering and struggling to retain words and information. Stuff is doing a lot of heavy lifting in my home and work life right now.

When I get the time, I need to relocate my vocabulary