Mumsnet, LWS, FILIA and class based double standards.

KRUTI WALSH, FiLiA Trustee

The Together Alliance Coalition, the organisers of the Together march last Saturday in London and chaired by Kevin Courtney, did a great job at keeping the aim of the march clear and simple and staying on message: the march was to be a show of unity against the far right and against racism – that's it. And that's why we went. ...

I am proud to have marched in the biggest anti-racist march in UK history with FiLiA, particularly alongside our sisters: Labour Women’s Declaration, Women’s Liberation Alliance, Project Resist, Feminist Dissent and others. It is important that sex-realist feminists are in anti-racist spaces – these are our spaces too. And we need to be in them to show our politics as an option for those on the left and to dissolve the binary thinking that suggests you can’t be on the left if you are sex-realist (or conversely that gender critical people must be right wing). ...

Continues at https://www.filia.org.uk/latest-news/2026/4/1/women-in-filia-reflect-on-the-past-week

I’m deeply disappointed at my union, Prospect, that has until the last Unite the Kingdom march in September 2025, stayed out of politics - not anymore. They put a statement of support out for Hate not Hope. Misogynistic Hope not Hate that encourages deranged transactivists to go after women. Shameful.

Oh hell, did they? They’re my union too 🙄

FiLiA is definitely hypocritical. But then I have found since being in this movement that some women on the far left are politics first, women second so this is expected.

Apparently Labour Women's Declaration were on the march too. They are classed as far right because they know men can't be women so what were they doing on the march!

The term far right has become so meaningless just like transphobia. But scaring people that the far right is on every street corner brings in the money for a lot of organisations.

I'm deeply disappointed at my union, Prospect, that has until the last Unite the Kingdom march in September 2025, stayed out of politics - not anymore. They put a statement of support out for Hate not Hope. Misogynistic Hope not Hate that encourages deranged transactivists to go after women. Shameful.

Was it organised by the SWP? I just assumed it was their usual “march at the front & hand out signs” tactic. I’m in 2 minds on this. I believe that factionalism has been a disaster for the left, letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. OTOH, guilt by association seems to be becoming the guiding principle for so many that unity can backfire. I’m also a little scared by the set menu of ‘opinions you must hold or you are evil’ - that way authoritarianism lies.

These are surely two separate things? If you can’t separate attacks on Jews for being Jewish from the actions of a foreign government, then that seems like anti-semitism. Would you insist that any defence of Palestinians was accompanied by an attack on Hamas?

It was unfortunate for them that TRA was pushed just before the omnicause, because i think if it started now, many would have ignored it completely, or taken a very 'nuanced' view from the off. I suspect they also assumed Labour wouldn't be so firmly TWAW and would want to destroy the tory self id policy. Maybe they believed there was going to be a table to be invited to.

But there's always been criticism of women doing GC wrong, then criticism of GC itself.

The problem lots of people (all flavours) seem to be hard of thinking so can’t cope with 2 things both being correct. I.e. the Israeli government is carrying out atrocities AND Hamas are not “good guys”.
Nevermind not being able to see how the mass attack and rape of women at a music festival in Israel also intimidates Palestinian women.

There is a lot of very real antisemitism on the left at the moment. But unfortunately many of the people who speak up about it seem unable to acknowledge any failings of the current Israeli government no matter how murderous they might be.

The SW party needs frequent explainers, imo. I think the rot is endemic and baked in.

Thing is, the Omnicause is just assumed to be correct so no justification is needed.

I know I can sound like a broken record on this subject, but since various Filia bods like to accuse others of being "aligned" with bad people, often on flimsy grounds, I'd love them to explain what they think they're doing attending an event organised by the Socialist Workers Party.

I joined the Trade Union FiLiA in the hope it would be about supporting women against gender woo, whatever their position on the Middle East. Big mistake. I emailed my resignation due to their presence on the march. The reply I got from KT was hugely disappointing. Classic NHS Fife defense. ‘Everybody else went’ nonsense. Mentioned my union went. Yeah, and I’m very annoyed they went, too. Then the use of the Labour extremist Jewish groups attending somehow justifying it, completely ignoring the fact they are the minority view of British Jews. I used to have a lot of respect for KT.

Someone tweeted that Lisa Marie was previously heading for women’s officer at Labour. Is that correct? It might explain some things . I liked her, Cardiff was amazing. I’m not sorry I didn’t go to Brighton and I won’t be going to blackpool. I don’t like the antisemitism

I went to a lot more activist sessions but someone I spoke to at coffee found real anti-semetism/ pro-Palestinian in every session she attended. (Someone else denied October 7th ever happened)

I thought there was an undertone on the Friday but not much overt until drink had been taken at the party. Although I’m told there was an incident in the queue. I really cannot believe that they let flags in. Any sort of sectional flags are inappropriate. I’m unhappy that FiLia didn’t expect & prepare for conflict.

We definitely do!

Exactly!
(And lots of the nice middle class feminists feel the same.)

Yes, plus it was a wonderful opportunity to meet feminists from around the world and to hear about some of the less known groups and organisations, and individual women, working in more niche areas, both here and abroad.

It is such a shame that they lost their way.

My best memories of FiLiA are of sitting round a table with friends afterwards, chatting & laughing. So much laughing. And of a fabulous second hand bookstall which I think was at Salford.

FiLiA used to be the main place we all met up. Not any longer.

After all the business I read about with the conference last year - people being allowed to drag Gaza into everything, hijabs for sale, antisemitism, some sort of altercation at an evening do - plus the criticism of Aja and DJ Lippy for daring to have some views or go to an event with which people didn't agree, I'm just not surprised.

They don't seem to have responded to any of the TwiX criticism though, they just reposted a tweet over and over again.

Shame, but the parallel between them and WEP that @TeflonBoot referenced is spot on. Naice middle class liberals just interested in being - and being seen to be - progressive and correct. I guess the warm embrace of "being on the right side of history" and the praise that comes with it is just too hard to resist for some.

Having been at the last Filia conference - I was horrified there by the antisemitism- which got so bad that most of the Jewish stall holders were absent by the final day. Any feminist organisation which cannot instantly condemn rape (of anyone), isn’t really feminist to me.
There were really good talks but for example their Trade Union campaign is now lost by association.

Professional left wing feminists will always, always always, choose 'left' over 'feminist'. They always sell women as a sex class out if they think they've got a chance of pleasing the big boys.