This in fact is a Pink News headline and I'm not going to give the link.
But I just thought on one level it was quite funny, but also never thought Blair would comment on the trans women issue.
Though in terms of the future of the Labour Party (with some suggesting Blair should come back as party leader!!!!!) I cant think that given his reputation re the Iraq War and now siding with "transphobes" as JKR is portrayed by Momentumites and others that this will help win him support!
I think PN claimed that this was his position based on an article in the New Statesman - but I cant really recognise it!
Extract:
A large part of moderate progressive opinion simply wants to steer clear of these cultural and identity issues entirely. The moderates – often of an older generation – don’t quite understand the strength of feeling over issues such as trans rights. They distrust their own sensors and fear tripping up or saying the wrong thing, and so have come to a position which basically says: there is no culture war, in any event we’re not playing it, or if there is and we are forced to play, we will play at the back as quietly as possible.
I believe this is a mistake and merely reinforces the sense of being weak people who don’t really stand for anything. And, as I know from a lifetime in politics, however successful a leader you are, you don’t always decide the agenda. You can decide the answer, but you can’t always decide the question. Your political opponents have a say, and most importantly, so does the public.
The right knows they’re on to something on these cultural issues. They are revelling in it and setting traps for the left all over the field, which the left is falling into one by one. (Or not. A key moment for Biden was when he comprehensively disowned “defund the police”, while backing police reform.)
Keeping your head down isn’t a strategy. There is a big culture battle going on. Progressive folk tend to wince at terms such as “woke” and “political correctness”, but the normal public knows exactly what they mean. And the battle is being fought on ground defined by the right because sensible progressives don’t want to be on the field at all. The consequence of this is that the “radical” progressives, who are quite happy to fight on that ground, carry the progressive standard. The fact that it ensures continued right-wing victory doesn’t deter them at all. On the contrary, it gives them a heightened sense of righteousness, like political kamikaze.
www.newstatesman.com/politics/2021/05/tony-blair-without-total-change-labour-will-die
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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
Tony Blair warns Labour will never win power if it ‘looks askance’ at JK Rowling
33 replies
stumbledin · 14/05/2021 14:56
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