Today’s witch burning - Rosie Duffield MP

@flippinfumin. Completely agree. It is coming from the far left and they are throwing accusations of prejudice towards the centre left mps. They want Starmer gone and a Richard Burgon type as leader.

I think a lot of the pile ons of Rosie JK and the Bishop, is because all three have made negative comments about Jeremy Corbyn. They were already targets of the hard left, Momentum.

As a former trade union activist and Labour Party activist, I am probably very left, but even I could see that JC was not to the taste of most of the country. Labour thought they had read the country and they were wrong. They are also wrong on this, but have doubled down. They need to listen and stop trying to get JC for leader again and attacking anyone who has ever disagreed with him. Listening to Momentum members, they think they own the MPs they door knocked to support. They cannot see anything past hard left, hence the situation where they are calling for the expulsion of life long party activists. There is no nuance with them.

or those which start to take on the shape of totalitarian movements

Exactly, you know it, I know it, the Labour heartlands know it.
The Labour Party as it stands, has nothing in common with the working class, or even ordinary people who want to see change for the better for everyone.The Labour Party has put all it's chips on the tiny, identity politics pockets

Hannah Arendt in 'The Origins of Totalitarianism' talks about the way in which totalitarian movements, or which take on the shape of totalitarianism, effectively cushion themselves from everyday reality. The members of a movement ( 'movemen't being a key word) are first of all cushioned by sympathisers and allies - who repeat the slogans of the movement - and eventually lose touch altogether. they are no longer interested in everyday reality, but have their eyes permanently fixed on the distant goal - to which all energies are directed.

Of course there is a friggin' "material conflict". This is everyday straight up Marxism: one group appropriating(colonising) the space of another quite distinct group and calling the shots.

Accept that there is no material conflict between trans rights and women’s rights, and that all trans women are subject to misogyny and patriarchal oppression

Accept and don't question. No thinking allowed.

Rosie Duffield has been back on Twitter to thank Welby and a few of the others who tweeted in support.

She hasn't yet backed down - I hardly dare hope...

(Sorry for the formatting. Don't know how that happened. )

Here's another Spectator piece on Rosie Duffield

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/rosie-duffield-and-the-war-on-women/amp?twitterr_impression=true

"Starmer then needs to dismiss the wild demands of the petulant youngsters behind the LCTR, or newspaper columnists who should know better. Their campaign boils down to a power grab: to get their own way irrespective of the interests of others, in particular women desperately holding on to the word 'woman'."

I didn't know about the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights pledges. No 5 is:

Accept that there is no material conflict between trans rights and women’s rights, and that all trans women are subject to misogyny and patriarchal oppression.

No 9 is:

1. Organise and fight against transphobic organisations such as Woman’s Place UK, LGB Alliance and other trans-exclusionist hate groups.

Here is the whole pledge:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwPyenUicSJgKv1YTknZ47gDGU4bb_389zYbqH10TGSTRrpg/viewform

[quote Distractable]As an Anglican, I'm pleased to see the Archbishop of Canterbury come to Rosie's defence this afternoon.
twitter.com/JustinWelby/status/1290701860588969991[/quote]
Welby's tweet in support of Rosie was reported on tonight's local ITV news (Meridian)! It just mentioned it briefly and said that her tweet was about only women having a cervix.
The tide is turning!

Len will flex his muscles but it'll be interesting to see how Starmer reacts. I don't think there is public appetite for a party left of Labour, plus the likes of Corbyn, McDonnel probably feel more relevant being part of a major political party. I don't think they'll start a new party, they'll just fight to keep Labour to the far left.

Yes Charlie. You'd think they'd learn, but no, they're doubling down. Starmer has shown some spine over some issues (antisemitism) but on this he's sitting on the fence so hard he'll need surgical grade tweezers to get the splinters out of his arse.

As with the summer after the referendum, where they could have capitalised on the Tories' acrimonious leadership debacle, but chose instead to descend into internicine warfare, or the most recent election where they should have been shooting at an open goal, because Boris - any half way decent Labour party would have won hands down, they seem intent on making themselves unelectable, then blaming the electorate.

Given the government's mishandling of covid (care homes, which was nothing short of criminal, PPE, testing, opening pubs before schools) Labour ought to be able to win the next election by a country mile. But they seem intent on finding themselves issues which will manage to lose it.

Anyone looking at Labour's behaviour after losing almost all of their seats in Scotland could have predicted their decline in England. We owed them our vote. It was the electorate's fault for losing them the election. We didn't understand.

Followed by visits from down South where English Labour Party leaders and functionaries demonstrated their complete ignorance of the new Scottish politics.

It's all fine and well to hate on another party. But if that party is already enacting policies you're also promising in your manifesto, but you're calling that party's policies all kinds of bad things, it makes you look like utterly contemptuous, arrogant twats lording it over the backwards Scots.

There's the beginnings of the framing of Leave voters right there: At best uneducated yokels who don't know any better, at worst racist (or in Scotland nationalist) swine unworthy of voting Labour but who ought to be grateful they can vote Labour nonetheless.

Taking people's vote for granted does not serve any party well. If you're also freely showing your contempt for those voters? Electoral disaster.

Where will Len take his cash to I wonder?

Rachel Reeves joining in now. Its all on show in the Labour party this week. Len McCluskey threatening to remove Union funding if Keir Starmer moves Labour too far right.

I’m quite amused that the Wokebishop has suddenly discovered that you can never be Woke enough for the mob.

I knew Dianne Abbot and Jeremy Corbyn would be raised within about 15 minutes of the archbishops tweet. 'You said nothing when Corbyn and Abbot were trolled? Etc,etc.

Ugh. Grace Petrie attempting to make Rosie Duffield's 'offence' a very complicated thing that should merit great cancellation, and not a supportive mention from the Archbishop.

The thread we have here in FWR on 'the wheels falling off' where the quasi-religious mindset of all this is quite instructive in this regard.

@SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito I completely agree. Lots of Anglicans will see this.

Crikey the Archbishop is getting some nasty replies from the inclusive types.

@Needmoresleep absolutely

I now subscribe to the spectator and to the times, mainly for trheir stance on this issue.

I'm a left leaning feminist who bought thE guardian for YEARS

As an Anglican, I'm pleased to see the Archbishop of Canterbury come to Rosie's defence this afternoon.
twitter.com/JustinWelby/status/1290701860588969991

But the comments towards Rosie Duffield were misogynistic and bullying. The far left are using it as a way of baiting the centrist labour mps.

This was my first ever experience with far-left bullying. Someone on a FB group posted pictures of about 20 or so MPs who had approved cuts to disability benefits. At least 3/4 were women and the comments were just a misogynistic pile-on. When I commented on this I was first told that it was fine as misogyny was nothing compared to how evenly the tories are and they deserved it. They then turned on me.

This arsehole has since been permanently banned from FB for antisemitic remarks. He actually denounced Jeremy Corbyn because he ‘supported’ the existence of Israel, but the tories are the nasty ones....

To be honest I've never felt strongly either way about the trans issue, it just isn't on my political radar at the moment. But the comments towards Rosie Duffield were misogynistic and bullying. The far left are using it as a way of baiting the centrist labour mps.