The cancellation of women is bigger than a culture war (Tory MP in the Telegraph)

Placemarking

It is a bit bloke heavy. I wonder whether that will be rectified as more people join and there's a more equal representation. They were asking for PPCs recently, so I'm quite interested to see what has happened there too. Why don't you send them an email?

I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place wrt voting - I don't get on with the current Labour party nor did I with Corbyn, and I don't agree with open borders/bodies with vaginas/abolishing with the police or whatever Labour feel pressured towards by people yelling on twitter. But I am also disabled and feel like I cannot in good conscience vote for a party who treat disabled people like shit on their shoe and hand their friends nice contracts.

Great article.

• Miriam, sorry - brain on autopilot

Received an email back from Mariam today - she's had to do a generic one about the article as she's had so much correspondence about it. That's a good sign.

She suggested sending the article to my own MP and asking their stance on the issue. I think I will.

That was an impressively clear article.

Still not going to vote Tory. For one thing, my MP is a corrupt, attention-seeking toad. He’s only in because he has the Conservative party ticket. From what I hear about his divorce, he has no respect for women.

I’m hoping for a complete turn-around on this issue before another election.

What a seriously excellent article. So clear.

Yep!

Covid aside, I'm now a single-issue voter.

And even without them capitulating to the TRA lobby, Sir Starmer's Labour Party has nothing to offer. Quite possibly the worst LOTO there's been.

Just covid? Nothing else they've done while in power?

As a lifelong leftie that can't be all!

@ikeairgin Workers Party of GB

Yes! That's where my vote will be going. They had a strong showing in that by-election too.

It's funny, if it wasn't for our government's calamitous response to Covid I'd very likely be a fully paid up member of the Conservative Party right now.

And this is coming from a lifelong leftie.

I wasn't necessarily just responding to your post. People often comment that the Tories don't really care about women's issues. The implication being that Labour does, I guess, or someone does, anyway.

Like I said you're agreeing with me.

Understand not reading all posts. I mean you don't need to! I agree.

People tend to say this though, that the parties don't care, as if it is an indictment. And they often seem to imply that individuals within the parties don't care.

Caring is just the wrong word to use, is the real problem. The CP seems to have a number of MPs who get this, a few who really feel strongly about it, and they are also responsive to voters caring about it. So, it is being reflected in their actions and policy initiatives.

The LP has many MPs that seem to care about something else and seem to be responding to voters who do to, and are suppressing those who care about this, so that's reflected in their policy ideas.

Lobster you are agreeing with me.

So. Good?

The "they don't really care" argument is funny because really, a party isn't a person with a heart and mind. It doesn't care about anything.

Individuals within parties can care and there are MPs in both the LP and CP who really have strong convictions, including about this issue. Is anyone really saying the MP who wrote this doesn't care? Because she ,and others who have spoken out publicly or in person to people are real people who care about issues.

The parties in some sense encompass these individual feelings but also are something else. There is something like a drive to create a kind of vision or put a stamp on society. For Conservatives that seems more pragmatic, partly at least because that kind of pragmatism about how human society works is built into their ideology. For the LP at the moment it's a sort of pure utopian vision, which is divorced from how real people behave, and how the world is. So - they are disadvantaged when it comes to being elected.

But caring or not caring isn't something an entity like a party can do.

For those of you wanting to read the whole article it's on her website miriamcates.org.uk

Great article. I'll email to say thank you too, my mum's constituency. It's 'Penny-stone' thankfully, not how it looks. I went to school there! Many, many, many years ago...

NiceGerbil I'm not sure what your point is. And I was describing my own views above so I'm not sure how that trivialises anything. I've seen plenty of women swear they would never vote Tory, I used to be one of them.

It's not about 'swearing' and 'nasty party'. That's trivialising the depth of feeling that those people both left and right have about what is the best thing for society.

One example does not negate the fact that the public as a group just aren't going to agree on anything.

If they did we'd only need one political party.

Holiday FSM started during covid I think? It was rashford who got them.

Not the public. The public were v divided on it.

Usual division.

Help those in need
Vs
Incentivise to stand on own two feet.

You aren't seriously arguing the earlier point surely?

I know the Swiss are a total democracy. Referendum on changes. Not sure the details but I don't know anywhere else that works like that.

@NiceGerbil.
You must know that's not how it works at all, I'm sure.

It worked like that over school meals during the holidays. Public pressure does work.

Thanks Jux will read policies.

Are they related to the old sdp do you know?

I did look before but went to the people page to see if anyone i know of. And was put off immediately by it being so bloke heavy.

My own bias maybe. But OTOH. been around a long time and experience counts for a lot.

Link to SDP policy on TW and sex based rights; I would be very interested what those who feel politically homeless think about this. Thanks.

sdp.org.uk/policies/transgender-and-biological-sex-based-rights/