I've been really struggling with my decision to vote for Labour due to their inability to define what a woman is clearly along sex lines. But the more I have thought about it today, I've realised that is quite a niche issue and probably quite a long way down the list of problems most women in the U.K. are facing today.
I'm fortunate - I live in an affluent area, have a well paid job and my marriage and DC are pretty uncomplicated. But I am in a bubble. For those outside the bubble, would I be reasonable to think that
- domestic violence
- raising a child in poverty
- lack of support for children with SEN or mental health issues
- general collapse of social services (however hard individuals work)
- lack of good maternity care
- lack of social housing
- maternity discrimination
are all more immediate issues?
For it to be an issue that there are men in women's prisons, those men have to actually be caught by the police and go through the criminal legal system. For it to be an issue that men are on women's wards, I have to be able to see a GP, sit on a waiting list and then access the hospital treatment I need or, if an accident, not die in A&E.
In my professional role, I do a lot to support single sex spaces and policies but, as a voter, thinking of what this country needs, I have persuaded myself that I can live with voting Labour.