MNHQ here: do you have thoughts about how divided we are (or aren't) as a nation? Tell the Together Coalition what you think

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We've been approached by the /Together Coalition to ask MNers if you'd be up for filling in their survey about 'what divides us, what unites us and what will bring us close together'.

Here's what they have to say:

"Should we worry about how socially divided we are?"

"Do you worry about how divided our society is becoming, or how divided it could become? Do you think the Covid crisis has brought us closer together as a society, or pushed us further apart?"

"Previous research has found 62% of people in the UK believe that “As a society, we have lost the ability to discuss politics without getting angry and abusive.” Do you agree?"

"The /Together coalition is asking for people’s views on these big questions."

"/Together is a coalition of organisations – from household names like the NHS and the Scouts to local community organisations – which is aiming to bring people together and bridge divides, to help build a kinder, closer and more connected society."

"Talk/together is the UK’s biggest-ever conversation about what divides us, what unites us and what will bring us closer together. You can take the Talk/together survey here."

"Let us know your views on this and the work of the /Together campaign."

Do take the survey if you fancy it - and as ever, we'd be interested to know what you think!

Thanks
MNHQ

Aaargh - it asks for your gender which really annoys me.

Gender? Ffs.

@bellinisurge

Gender? Ffs.

Its optional.

Its optional

Whether answering the question is optional or not, what's wrong with asking people their sex as well as gender, and they can answer whichever one they prefer, or neither as the case may be.

Utterly pissed off with all this gender nonsense. Sorry MNHQ for derailing.

I'll not be partaking if they have already decided to divide humans into men, and non-men.

@jasjas1973 , I tried to fill it in by saying No to answering the personal stuff. It wouldn't let me submit it.

[quote bellinisurge]@jasjas1973 , I tried to fill it in by saying No to answering the personal stuff. It wouldn't let me submit it. [/quote]
I'm naive, i just answered "prefer not to say" the gender stuff went over my head.
Now i can see what you mean.

Q11 is about agreeing for them to collect the data, not allowing the remaining question to be unanswered.... i think!!!

One of the people behind this group is Matthew Elliott, CEO of the Vote Leave campaign, the man behind all the lies. Does he need a survey to tell him how divided the UK is?

There are some credible names behind the group, but I struggle to believe this person has any good intentions at all, and is more likely to steal our data than reunite our fractured nation. Perhaps a representative could post further information to allay our concerns?

Didn't like that the survey only asked your ethnicity and not your nationality.

Nowhere for people to record that they didn't vote because they weren't allowed to.

Nothing for the 3 million in there - are these people even aware that they exist?

Likewise no reaching out to Britons in Europe, even though many of us are still British and still have ties to local communities.

Sorry, but that just irritated me. Happy clappy crap while the government gambles with people's livelihoods.

Holed below the waterline, sorry.

Another adding to the voice of sex, not gender

Yes I think those behind austerity and the referendum have caused enormous divisions, stoked up by papers like the Mail, Express and Telegraph. Look at how racial attacks doubled after the referendum. Shameful. The only thing that's really going to start to heal those divisions is to get rid of the party responsible for austerity and the referendum.

The only thing that's really going to start to heal those divisions is to get rid of the party responsible for austerity and the referendum

That won’t heal divisions.
There’ll be the same divisions with a different party in power.

Speaks bloody volumes about looking for unity if you use mealy mouthed non-definitions to appease gender woo.

Yep I can see the responses being used to justify enforced volunteering and a “we love everybody” public holiday while politics of division and policies wedge gaping holes in the fabric of the country. Did coronavirus bring about unity - yep those with their livelihoods decimated feel very connected to Boris’s cronies who got to capitalise on the need for PPE. Shower of shites.

to help build a kinder, closer and more connected society

Yes, and guess who will be pressured into abandoning their hard won rights, and who will be expected to roll up their sleeves and put their noses to the grindstone to achieve that????

"/Together is a coalition of organisations – from household names like the NHS and the Scouts to local community organisations."
I used one of the free-text boxes to have a rant about the 'gender' question and "hate speech". I also shoe-horned in a swipe at their buddies, the NHS and Girl Guides.

@Hayeahnobut

One of the people behind this group is Matthew Elliott, CEO of the Vote Leave campaign, the man behind all the lies. Does he need a survey to tell him how divided the UK is?

There are some credible names behind the group, but I struggle to believe this person has any good intentions at all, and is more likely to steal our data than reunite our fractured nation. Perhaps a representative could post further information to allay our concerns?

Hello Hayeahnobut: /Together has asked me to give you this response

"/Together is independent of party politics and is entirely neutral on issues such as Brexit. Those who are involved in /together span political divides and come from a wide range of backgrounds. What they share is a belief that whilst we might disagree on the substance of political debates, we need to find ways to have kinder and more respectful conversations with those who have different opinions to our own. We believe that message is as important now as it has ever been."

Hello Hayeahnobut: /Together has asked me to give you this response
Good. That means that they are reading this thread. I hope that they are getting the gender message. Feminist board is here
PS: in case you haven't noticed, we are 51% of the population. Ignore us at your peril (as the Labour Party has found out the hard way).

I found the repeated focus on volunteering interesting. In the context of that survey it could appear that they were trying to lead people towards selecting the option that said people should have to volunteer a certain number of hours.

@MedusasBadHairDay

I found the repeated focus on volunteering interesting. In the context of that survey it could appear that they were trying to lead people towards selecting the option that said people should have to volunteer a certain number of hours.

Which leads on to the fairly "state the obvious" observation that if people "have to" do this, then they aren't really volunteering are they!

Quite. It just reminds me of the Tory focus on how great foodbanks are, rather than how fucking awful it is that we need them.

It's clearly not neutral on gender woo shite.

I hope they recognise that the anger is often there for a reason. I don’t agree with the often misogynistic abuse dished out - but I also get fed up with middle class insistence that everything be phrased in a way that is flattering to them and their beliefs.

The language in the survey - admittedly short - seems representative of a simplistic wishy washy hope that everyone would just get along without acknowledging that there are very real differences in both cultural attitudes and opportunities in the UK, and that these need to be acknowledged and explored, not just shouted down by wishful thinking.