Johnson to pitch TRA backlash as part of GE campaign?

It's also about depressing the vote on the left and centre and reducing turnout.

Yes!

So the idea that Johnson is going to persue trans gender issues is merely going to result in the woke crowd shouting TWAW louder... Which is a gift to Johnson.

And yes!

And I'd emphasise - there's no way Boris is "GC". He's a liberal deregulator, both socially and economically. If he pursues this, it's pure populist electioneering.

Agree with riot that this would cause huge collateral damage. If Johnson takes this into a mainstream culture war, the gender critical feminist perspective will be pushed out from the left (by the woke) and right (by the male entitlement crew). Look how few out gender critical voices there are in the US compared to the UK, that's what Trump weaponising it as an issue achieved.

Vast swathes of the public are sick to the back teeth of identity politics generally and in real life I barely know a soul who supports TWAW. I'm in what used to be Labour heartland Red Clydeside, not a Tory area by any means.

However, thinking trans ideology is ridiculous doesn't mean seeing the longer term dangers, most people don't give it much thought at all, it isn't a priority, more yet another issue where the 'elite' are out of touch with ordinary people.

Sadly I think people are more likely to vote in droves on anti-muslim sentiment than anti-trans privilege sentiment.

As for Boris, he is only out for Boris, if he mentions trans privilege at all it will likely be a minor part of a wider anti-identity politics message.

I've been working for some time that the shortsightedness of the woke liberal identity crowd makes the subject rife for exploitation politically by individuals who don't give a shit about either women or trans people.

I'm with Red and the prescient Lisa Muggeridge.

I very much doubt Boris himself gives a shiny shit about trans issues. If anything, he'd be in favour - he's a right wing liberal who likes deregulating stuff, including male sexuality. He's not a social conservative. But certainly happy enough to pretend to be one if it's electorally advantageous.

I've been watching government petitions. There is by-constituency view and if you check any Woke-themed petition, the lowest levels of engagement are always in Labour marginal/Tory target seats.

It's not just Brexit: the whole Woke agenda is unpopular in Labour's most vulnerable seats. Lisa Nandy has been trying to tell the party this for some time but the Woke activist base has just shoved its fingers in its ears and continued to shout gammon.

If I were Boris, I'd be all over it like a rash.

Stonewall's reaction to any proposed changes in policy will be interesting. There's an Interim Chief Executive in place now, following Hunt's departure. He's a PR wonk, so one would like to think he is aware of the current state of play.

uk.linkedin.com/in/paul-twocock-06625213

Ugh if they go this way the UK will soon follow the USA with the trans issue being one no one will touch publicly who is my already far right politically.

The old “if trump says the sky is blue it must be green” thing.

@skql oh, I'm not saying we shouldn't fight. I was questioning whether an intervention by him like the one indicated in the article, will be decisive and/or (given his history).

The big surprise really was Theresa May letting Penny Maudant run with GRA reform as she did. Boris reining in aspects of transgenderism, would be a more natural Tory position.

I agree. It was hard for May and Mordaunt to do a public U-turn on any of this. A new PM gives the Conservatives an excuse to do just that; they will be fully aware of the public change in awareness/mood.

Let's not forget, Mordaunt lost the Equalities job after all on Day 1..….

Mrs Gove is also GC, so I'd like to think she has been able to bend a few ears too.

@riot
yep. there's massive collateral damage.
but the matter is-what i understand- the latter, the more massive damage will come.

if what i saw in mumsnet, gender critical thread, things happening canada are real, how can we assert boundaries?

all org are pro trans.(except religious one)/ can't speak up(because people are so scared)/media is pro trans ...

simply how?

in canada soon sogi123 will start.
and uk will follow.(i guess)

next generation will not understand difference between man and woman.(even now adults are acting like can't understand that)
so next generation, they simply can't.

school say that, media say that, gov say that, activist say that.

why they need to assert boundaries?
in youtube, there's some video interviewing people
'is it fair trans woman be in woman's sports?'
college student say that 'man, woman have no difference.'

i'm scared pessimist.
(i'm not from uk, i'm not good at english sorry)

To be clear what I mean about poisoning: this isn't an easy "gotcha." Transpeople are people. Their cause has been entwined with LGB. Their cause has been entwined with some form of feminism. There is no "nuking this issue" without massive collateral damage. This is a matter for diplomacy, or maybe patient litigation, not warfare. It probably isn't in Brinkmanship Boris's nature, but a calm assertion of boundaries is a far better and more winning position than "weaponising."

Part of the reason we are where we are politically both here and across the pond is because of such a lack of education and critical thinking that people blanket assume that the left is automatically "good" and the right "bad".

People, life, issues and political parties are not so simple, as Labour's (and in the US the Democrats') obscene deference to anti-semites proves. Equally, the right - who traditionally believe in small government - are historically staunch defenders of freedom of speech, even if you may not like their other policies on privatisation etc. I have no doubt Boris Johnson, if he survives Brexit, would shut down TRA, anti-science nonsense and if he did it wouldn't be purely because it's a vote-winner, but because it's what he really believes.

Hm. Is this political cabal really competent to make this an election issue? For one thing, the barrage of "policy" coming at us, the electorate, is overwhelming, and "yet another policy" is not what is required for a policy position on this. If "transwomen are women" is a meaning-obscuring conversation-stopper, surely any clumsy, Boris-blethering "transwomen aren't women" would have a similarly simplistic effect? Most people don't even understand what GC people and TRAs are on about: it really does go over their heads (and we all have so much experience with letting "Brexit" go over our heads to protect our own sanity that this will definitely happen for many). Don't get me wrong: I'd be very glad to have a party to come out on the gender critical side and force the other parties to be explicit about their positions (sort of like what an Opposition ought to do... but hasn't been doing). However, given Boris's heedless incompetence in making things worse for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliff, I really question his competence to get this right without poisoning the gender critical position.

I agree with the poster who said that any party that recognises and states clearly that woman = adult human female is an open goal in terms of getting thousands of votes from ordinary people who are fed up of the insanity. I am not voting until a party remembers what a woman is.

kid, sex, religion...
maybe it will be quiet dangerous

The 'Tory' press: Times, Spectator, Mail have consistently published GC articles, and their editors have gone out of their way to support brave journalists.

The big surprise really was Theresa May letting Penny Maudant run with GRA reform as she did. Boris reining in aspects of transgenderism, would be a more natural Tory position. Not least, Stonewall, and their overreaching policy influence, are heartily disliked by many ordinary civil servants and others within the public sector.

I'm not sure trans rights or self-ID in particular are really divisive enough to play that role, I think too many people really have a problem with it so if there is a political debate it may end up shifting the political response. That could be a good outcome.

If it moves the conversation on from #NoDebate, that can only be a good thing, surely. Someone with some political clout has to make a move if there's going to be any change of policy.

It's always dangerous when an issue that is potentially serious and divisive becomes a way of dividing the vote. The problem is often not really treated seriously or with care and solutions can be extreme or just not effective. That would be a bad outcome.
I'm not sure trans rights or self-ID in particular are really divisive enough to play that role, I think too many people really have a problem with it so if there is a political debate it may end up shifting the political response. That could be a good outcome.

It is a general sign of a problem when these extreme political figures like BJ or DT are the only ones really giving voice to large sections of the population on issues.

I don't want trans rights taken away I just want women's rights maintained and children to be supported so they don't make life changing decisions until they understand the full implications

I'd like a political party to support women because it's the right thing to do not to score points

Ben Elton's Identity Crisis book highlights situations like this. Using social media and identity politics to turn people off certain things.

Tory voters are primarily 40+, the same demographic that will have little truck with self-ID. He's wasting his time chasing the under 25 vote. And before you accuse him of anything else, ALL politicians chase votes.

My guess (and it's only a guess) is that he'll propose banning puberty-blockers being prescribed to children, specifically under 16s.

This issue, like so many others, will be totally overshadowed by Brexit.