RE: Boris
This pretty much sums up the situation.
Stephen Bush @stephenkb
The problem with a "liberal Brexit" is that most liberals don't want Brexit and most Brexiteers aren't liberal
Boris has never progressed past June 22nd 2016. He is still talking about a vision, but by this stage we should be well into details and practical implementation.
For that reason, he is going to have a particular problem going forward.
Faisal Islam has a good take on it.
Faisal Islam @faisalislam
Government insiders think the Boris speech, in particular the acceptance in some areas of “voluntary” alignment with EU standards is evidence the FS has been “on a journey”... also on acceptance of standstill transition
As a means of reaching out to Remain voters - response of own MPs (Wollaston/ Soubry) is not great. Some acknowledgement of practical trade-offs on friction with EUropean trade vs free trade with other nations, or goods vs services trade, may have hit the mark better...
If the Foreign Sec wants the top job eventually, surely has to make his peace with former fans in Remainy Metropolitan UK, where Conservatives suffered losses last year, other Cabinet Brexiters showing pragmatism here - eg on continued alignment for car/ pharma industry etc...
To put it another way, how many Leave voters really think and would change their vote on the basis that continued alignment in industries prospering in UK and run on a pan-EU basis (cars, pharma, chemicals aviation, nuclear etc) is some sort of Brexit betrayal?
The Conservatives will increasingly find it difficult to get a majority because of their inability to engage outside their safe turf. That's not to say that Labour can take advantage of it. They have the same problem. We have a stalemate, that isn't improving.
Darren McCaffrey @DMcCaffreySKY
NEW: Irish PM Leo Varadkar suggests there won't be much difference between the current Customs Union and any new Customs Partnership post #Brexit and that @Theresa_May has asked Irish government to help with this.
Here we go with the language twist again. Should like the plan is to move from a 'Customs Union' to a 'Customs Partnership'. The two being the same thing in practice.
Of course, where did Boris mention NI in his Brexit speech. Its the Brexit elephant.
As for trans stuff. I've spent years trying to get to a point where there can be a 'compromise' which respects both women and trans people. The problem is that only one side is willing to do that, and the push back and the lack of respect for why women had their status of sex protected in the first place is being totally disregarded. There is no middle ground for many TRAs. I wish it were different.
In terms of the science, its all very well saying that perhaps there is more to biology than our current understanding. Perhaps there is, but what part of our biology is it that means women are discriminated against and abused for. Its not because of cellular structure or chromosomes or brain make up. Its because of sexuality.
Also any attempt to try and find out more about there being differences is deliberately being stopped, not by women but by TRAs. I would fully support exploration of this, because what little has been done in this field is so poor as to render it all but valueless. I have spent many years looking at how research into issues relating to women's health is flawed and how its a lot poorer than it should be. Trans health issues are much worse than that. There is not a desire to explore the effects of sterilisation, hormones, surgery, councilling etc as medical gatekeeping in any form is viewed as oppressive and should all be stopped. That's chilling to think of the harm that might cause and to whom. Even though I think women's health gatekeeping is oppressive, I also think it a necessary evil and we simply have to do it better.
Ironically with the way things are going, those who are trans and NEED medical support, might also find they are unable to access it or unable to get health care that is in their best interests and could be indeed harmful because its politically led rather than medically led.
I am going to have to tackle my parents in the near future about the direction TRAs has gone. They are blissfully unaware of it. They are not aware of the GRA and the implications for both me and sibling and how Self ID could harm BOTH of us. I know they will be shocked and disturbed by some of the rhetoric.
I wish things were different. From a pragmatic point of view I feel pushed into a corner as needs must. I'm just torn over it.
I suspect there are lots on the FWR boards who have done it to death and faced abuse for many years and the inevitable result is they have come to the conclusion they can't be more accommodating, because they have tried that and look where it got them. Its the whole mentality where they feel that if they give an inch TRAs will take a mile, and that's why the situation is where it is now. Because the respect many initially offered wasn't just thrown back in their faces, it was actively snarled and aggressively condemned as not good enough. Nothing was good enough, except women doing as they were told and being stopped from thinking critically.
Avocation of reason has been crushed to the point, that there is no trust or goodwill left.
I do feel very much stuck in the middle of it. But ultimately I feel I have to look after myself and my mental health and do what is right for women as a whole, rather than be bullied into a situation where I see far too many pitfalls and opportunities for exploitation by the unscrupulous - and to stress, not by people who are trans. Many of them ARE men, rather than someone who has gender dysphoria. This is something that many within the trans community do recognise and are concerned about but they are marginalised and abused themselves for not supporting the TRA orthodoxy.
I think there are many well meaning women, who don't fully appreciate how the situation has developed and how TRAs are extremists within the community but have come to dominate and take it over.
I think the desire to force a debate and expose what has been going on and the extent to which MRA has taken over trans ideology has made it difficult. Women want to be able to voice things and have that debate which you really want but MN has become the only safe space they can voice ANY critical thought at all. Many feel it the last line of defence, to protecting Women's Rights hence they want to protect their message here at least, and get the debate more open and honest in the public at large. They want to take it mainstream.
Certainly I personally want everyone to be aware of the issues properly - but I also think women can not afford to tiptoe around too either, as that fails to get the message about how serious the situation has become. Gender replacing sex condemns us to stereotypes and to discrimination. Only by recognising both and the difference between them can women shape their own futures.
Anyway:
Faisal Islam @faisalislam
Stormont talks break down
“No current prospect of these discussions leading to an Executive”