Is Keir Starmer a misogynist?

[Bertiebiscuit]

Starmer seems endlessly surprised that anyone cares about girls being preyed on by grooming gangs, or women and girls being trafficked for sex by Epstein. He is the classic Lefty male for whom women's issues are always "jam tomorrow", who can't even bring himself to admit he knows what a woman even is, despite being married to one,the mother of his children.

Starmer seems endlessly surprised that anyone cares about girls being preyed on by grooming gangs, or women and girls being trafficked for sex by Epstein

Could you expand on your reasoning for this statement? He made a catastrophic error with the Mandelson appointment, but I have never seen him express the surprise you are describing.

Don’t be so fucking ridiculous 🙄

OP I feel your time would be better spent developing your self awareness and critical thinking than posting on here. Or maybe applying for a job at the Daily Mail, you'd probably fit in there.

No

and he’s not ‘Lefty’. He’s as centrist as it gets. ‘Lefties’ who don’t know what women are include Billy Bragg.

OP, where the fuck are you getting your news from? We must live in parallel universes.

I'm not even a Labour voter or Starmer supporter and even I can see this is some grade A rubbish.

Same. Batshit.

No he isn’t. What a stupid suggestion to make.

Not a Starmer fan but I’ve never got the impression he hates women.

I see nothing to suppose he’s a misogynist. I do see a lot to convince me that he’s a useless prick.

He thinks some women can have penises so I’m sure he’s even qualified to care about them.

obviously I meant not* sure

No he isn't. That is a ridiculous statement

Are you aiming for 1000 posts on this thread too @Bertiebiscuit ?

I'm very concerned about the lack of movement on the Epstein files (even though I understand the impact of the Acosta debacle, at least in a US context) but I cannot get past the description of Starmer as "lefty". Is this intended as a distraction from the real issues, or as some kind of in-group "humour"?

Apart from his centrist politics, I think he has been pretty clear lately that he does understand sex, after what I will agree with you was a very rocky start. But if you put him in perspective among comparable world leaders - he's nowhere near as great as I'd like the UK's head of government to be, but quite a bit better than almost anyone else.

Should we demand more for women and girls? Oh, fuck yes - SO much more. Should we throw Starmer out with the bathwater because he doesn't meet our standards? Probably not, unless (1) you have someone better on women's issues right now who could realistically replace him within the context of UK political structures OR (2) you have a viable way for people who believe that women are human to rise up and throw out the present structure wherein generally we are considered NOT to be fully human.

He does think they can have a penis, though.

He seems well meaning but hapless to me. Which is worrying considering he is a human rights lawyer. I think his views and experience is a bit narrow. Also, he is surrounded by an absolute motley crew who presumably are not a lot of use.

This is fascinating - he quite clearly is. I'm astonished at people who say they're surprised anyone would think this and are pushing back.

Makes me think of Germaine Greer, I think this thread is full of women who have no idea how much they're hated by this man.

I very much doubt it. Like a lot of politicians from all sides of the debate, he is trying not to be accused of transphobia and bigotry. We all know how easy it is to gain those labels, and how damaging it can be.

I think if you go through life thinking half the population (and the prime minister) hates you, then you should probably get help because that level of paranoia isn't healthy.

Quite. The PM really does live rent free in OP's head, while she posts the kind of nonsense that gives feminists a bad name.

This is nonsense on stilts. This lame old trope about him "not knowing what a woman is" is such a load of shite. I loathed gender self ID and found the Labour party's reluctance to commit to a position on it pathetic but its a huge jump from this to "he doesn't know what a woman is". It's such a tired old argument.

I am not particularly sorry that Starmer is on his way out: he is a weak and unconvincing leader. But there is literally no evidence that he's a misogynist.

Can you explain to me why he failed to condemn the treatment of Rosie Duffield?

He felt she deserved it and she should shut up. Therefore he regards anyone who agrees with her with the same level contempt and hostility. That is hate. Make no mistake.