International Women’s Day Q&A with Penny Mordaunt MP, Secretary of State for International Development NOW CLOSED TO NEW QUESTIONS

[JustineMumsnet]

[EDITED BY MNHQ: Questions have now been collated and sent over - new questions may not be answered]

Hello all,

We’re very pleased to announce a Q&A with Penny Mordaunt MP, Secretary of State for International Development and Minister for Women and Equalities.

Please post your questions on this thread by lunchtime on Wednesday March 6. We’ll send on a selection to the Minister and we will post up written answers from Penny on this thread this coming Friday (March 8), International Women’s Day.

In her role as Secretary of State for International Development, Penny Mordaunt oversees DFID’s work ending extreme poverty overseas, including programmes focused on girls’ education and women’s health. DFID has been in the news recently, facing calls for its budget to be spent partly on encouraging projects that would aid British business overseas, and for it to be folded into the Foreign Office instead of being a standalone department.

In her role as Minister for Women and Equalities, Penny is also responsible for work including gender pay gap reporting and possible changes to the law concerning gender recognition.

Penny campaigned for Brexit in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum and is a Royal Naval Reservist. She has previously been Minister of State for Disabled People and Minister of State for the Armed Forces.

Please add your questions for Penny here by Wednesday lunchtime. And although it’s not a live webchat please stick to the spirit of our webchat guidelines and keep it civil.

If one topic is overwhelmingly dominating responses we might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. Rest assured we will ALWAYS make the recipient aware that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

Thanks
Justine

Nb existing members will be able to post on this thread. Thanks.

Disappointed and not surprised.

I briefly hoped you would do better Penny.

I stupidly had such high hopes.......

You must also realise that your answers for example about toilets and the Equality Act are completely disingenuous as there is endless evidence that in practice, single sex spaces have not been protected at all.

Besides which, you say a sex marker is decided by nothing more than whatever gets written on a birth certificate, so anyone can be anything regardless of fact and biology. So one wonders why you're bothering to protect single sex spaces anyway. Or if that's merely a don't frighten the horses line while you do away with women's rights.

If Penny Mordant MP or one of her advisors is following this thread, can I suggest this thread?
Many who are clueless new to the wider issues have found it helpful:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3145470-Break-it-down-for-me

-how can she be so utterly clueless?

She isn't clueless, this isn't a case of not knowing any better.
It's all very delibrate.
For this issue the government are going to be against women, it's the public that will need to push.

How can you protect female single-sex spaces when any man can decide to access all of those female single-sex space based on his self-declared gender identity? With the full backing of Penny Mordaunt it seems.

What do you think single-sex actually means, Penny?

@MenstruatorExtraordinaire
Q. Do you agree we should repeal the GRA, that it should not be possible to change the sex marker on your birth certificate, passport etc from male to female as these people are not in fact changing sex. For medical reasons alone surely it is essential to know whether a human body is male or female.

Answer:
As I said in answer to the last question, the Gender Recognition Act 2004 does not require trans people to have genital surgery to legally change their gender. This law has been in place since 2005. At the time it was world leading for not requiring trans people to be sterilised in order to legally change their gender – because of course that is what genital surgery effectively does. Many other countries follow a similar approach, or go further than the UK position.

I get the impression the Right Honourable lady has absolutely no idea what she is talking about as she has not answered my question in the slightest.

What a car crash. What an absolute car crash.

While NIO wait for either an assembly or declaration from the courts we should at least ensure the guidance being given to healthcare professionals is clear.
We have a duty of care to women from all parts of the United Kingdom and we are working hard to find a way through this

So really nothing concrete is being done to ensure that women in NI are receiving the same reproductive rights.
As a wee tip if you're leaving Karen Bradley in charge of ensuring my healthcare rights I'd make sure she knew what the current state of affairs was - she can be a bit woolly on NI issues

Gobsmacked at this:

@ Tanith
Q. Many low income women are losing money - and friends - to Multi Level Marketing companies and their representatives. Do you agree that the laws on pyramid selling need to be tightened?

Answer:
Pyramid selling schemes are illegal and people who establish, operate or promote them can be prosecuted under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Those who participate in them are likely to lose money, and you should report anyone who you suspect is operating a pyramid scheme to action fraud or citizens advice.

Not my question, but WTAF? It was pretty clear the question related to predatory MLMs like Forever Living etc, which are NOT illegal since they ostensibly involve selling a (shit, overpriced) product, but are extremely damaging. Yet no acknowledgement of them.

This is a pretty clear indication of the level of thought that went into answering these questions. smh 🤦‍♀️

Interesting that she recognises that the Karen White situation was horrific but yet it hasn't apparently sunk in that the government pushing the fictional narrative of transwomen are women is exactly how that situation happened in the first place.

Furthermore women and girls will continue to be damaged greatly as long as they continue to push this propaganda.

"There are many women who do not menstruate, who do not bear children, who do not produce eggs, for whatever reason. They are still covered by the protected characteristic of sex. "

Oh dear. Facepalm. The question asked about people who were of the sex that can menstruate, produce eggs and so on. I would have thought she would have a better ability to understand the question. Don't know if it's deliberate or not.

She seems totally signed up to the TWAW belief system, without any explanation as to what that actually means.

Just because some women don't have periods, Penny, that doesn't mean that anyone who doesn't have periods can be a woman if they want.

So Penny Mordaunt and Maria Miller do not see eye to eye on the GRA. Interesting.

@TheCuriousMonkey
Q. If you are right and "transwomen are women" how do we define those people who are of the sex class that produces ova, gestates their young, lactates, menstruates etc? And if we can't define that group how do we protect their rights not to be discriminated against because of their membership of that sex class?

Answer:
I know what you're getting at in this question. On these matters you'll find me to be understanding and highly pragmatic. I get your concerns about this. My job is to ensure that these issues are dealt with and that everyone can go about their business and can feel supported and comfortable. And I am trying to do this swiftly.

So, is there a word for those people then?

There are many women who do not menstruate, who do not bear children, who do not produce eggs, for whatever reason.

OMFG.

Extreme transactivism talking point regurgitated by Minister in charge of women's rights.

I cannot believe what I have just read.

Penny - this, and many other of your answers here, confirm what I have been saying for a while now. You are at least two years behind the conversation everyone else is having. All your fob offs have already been tried, countered and debunked.

And all you have to offer us is a card from TRA bingo? Why not go for the black women one while you're about it? I mean, you know. It's not as though we don't know them all already. We'd be shouting house in ten seconds flat. I am embarrassed for you, Penny, I really am. Get better SPADs.

JFC.

There are many women who do not menstruate, who do not bear children, who do not produce eggs, for whatever reason. They are still covered by the protected characteristic of sex.

Dear God. Are you actually a TRA, Penny?

You do realise, don't you, that this is a straight out of the playbook???

I read the answers, but had to walk away from the thread.

Penny, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, you don't know what an earth you are talking about.

How do you think it's going to go down when you can't explain why you support an ideology that is advocating for strap on penises for two-year-old girls?

And it's absolutely no good you saying that experimental drugs are only used on children when they are 12!!!

Not when they are dropping eight IQ points, losing their spatial awareness and cognitive ability, permanently.

Are you aware of the resignations from the Tavistock? The whistleblowing?

Dear Lord.

This is unforgivable.

You were given all the information. All of it. Spoonfed it.

You haven't bloody well read it.

"Q. If The House of Commons was 50% men and 50% transwomen is that equality?

Answer:
When the chamber of the House of Commons looks like the country it serves then I think we’ll know we are getting there."

So Penny won't (can't) define "woman".

I'm not surprised - people that say "transwomen are women" find themselves unable to, without using a circular definition.

Shon Faye had a go, with laughable results.

Penny, we've been watching Maria Miller's backtracking and disowning of this issue on Twitter. Maria now says the GRA should not be amended. Amending the GRA to allow self-declaration will have massive implications on the safety, privacy and dignity of women and girls. The ones who are born female. I sincerely hope this won't come to pass.

well 80% of those answers weren't actually answers were they?

I mean I can be a bit slow on the uptake, but did anyone actually feel that their question was answered?

Farewell, womens rights. It was nice having you.

Lang my thoughts exactly.
I need to go away and think about this before I post anything further, at the moment my brain is only offering up an endless stream of four letter words.

I cannot believe what I have just read.
I'm suprised anyone was expecting more than this to be honest. We knew what the offical word was.
This isn't something we are going to be able to offically stop, Penny and other people in power are the ones pushign this.

This is why it's so important for the public to talk and to inform, it will be the public protecting the public.

"Q. If The House of Commons was 50% men and 50% transwomen is that equality?

Answer:
When the chamber of the House of Commons looks like the country it serves then I think we’ll know we are getting there."

This means that when Parliament has the same number of transwomen in it that is reflected in the community, you will be happy.

THEREFORE, TRANSWOMEN AREN'T WOMEN, ARE THEY??????

The twists and turns, the contradictions, the lack of logic and cognitive ability.

It's unbelievable.

Oh wait, no. Sorry...um what was the question?

That whole thing can be summed up as ‘Aw, shame, but trans rights are more important.’