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Original poster

Feminist policies

42 replies

aliceliddell · 23/05/2011 18:31

I started a previous thread on this asking what your priorities would be. Thanks for your replies. From what you all said, I'm thinking - Caring responsibilities (parental leave, affordable childcare, caring for elders/disabled); violence (domestic, sexual); sex industry (strippers, lapdancing, prostitution) are three two main areas. The meeting to set the agenda for the conference is on 13th June. Can you let me know your thoughts by then? The bulk of the conference will be about campaigning for council elections and cuts. Any info re funding for eg refuges etc will be useful. We know most jobs lost in the public sector are women's jobs, that work will be done by women for free at home. So these issues should be central to the campaign imo. Let me know what you think.

OP posts:
ttosca · 23/05/2011 22:26

alice-

The meeting to set the agenda for the conference is on 13th June.

I'm new here. What conference is this? Can you tell me more about the campaign, please?

Original poster
aliceliddell · 24/05/2011 10:24

ttosca - congratulations! you have spotted this week's deliberate mistake! Yes, it would have been an idea for me to have given some explanation. I was an anti-cuts candidate for Trade Union & Socialist Coalition TUSC in the council elections. While TUSC has a firm anti-cuts policy which is good for women as most public sector workers and service users are women, the policy of 'full equality and equal pay' needs a bit of expansion. So I asked for MN feminist types to assist me in trying to influence the future direction of TUSC. This conference is the first chance to do that.

OP posts:
leares · 24/05/2011 15:05

Who cares? The TUSCs opinion on anything is a total irrelevance, they have about as much as political influence as my dog.

Original poster
aliceliddell · 24/05/2011 15:29

Oh, really, leares? I had no idea. Thank God you're here. Perhaps you could let us have the benefit of your extensive insight into precisely how we should go about getting political representation for ordinary women. (Precise, mind. None of your waffle.)

OP posts:
leares · 24/05/2011 15:42

I don't think we should do anything

ttosca · 24/05/2011 15:47

alice

I will post your request now on a facebook page with people who might be interested in participating in this discussion. Hopefully they'll stop by and share their thoughts...

Original poster
aliceliddell · 24/05/2011 16:19

Cheers, ttosca!
leares - just as well the suffragettes didn't adopt you as their lead tactician, then.

OP posts:
leares · 24/05/2011 16:32

The electorate vote for who they want to represent them and the candidate with the most votes become the representative of the constituency. Leave it to the electorate

Original poster
aliceliddell · 24/05/2011 16:48

I just beat the Lib Dems. They're currently in government. Does that count?

OP posts:
Original poster
aliceliddell · 24/05/2011 17:40

Just out of interest, leares - why come on something called Mumsnet, find the 'politics' section, find the 'feminist policies' thread then answer the question of 'what should we do?' with 'I don't think we should do anything'?
Great to see your fiery commitment to participatory democracy.

OP posts:
earthworm · 24/05/2011 22:10

I'd never heard of TUSC, but have just read wiki

Is it accurate that they only got 1600 votes in Wales, compared to 2600 for the Communist Party and 23000 for Arthur Scargill?

Did they do better in England?

earthworm · 24/05/2011 22:18

Oh this article answers my question about how you did in England.

Original poster
aliceliddell · 25/05/2011 14:10

Did somebody tell you that TUSC had a realistic chance of winning those elections? From a standing start? With media silence? Maybe a more viable project was to use the elections as one element of a campaign against cuts in local government jobs and services. (Still beat the Lib Dems, though)

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niceguy2 · 25/05/2011 18:41

I had a quick look at the site. I can't find a single policy. Even under the title TUSC shows alternative to Con-Dem and Labour cuts I can't find a single policy alternative.

Perhaps they'd do better and the media take them more seriously if they had a policy? Just a thought!

ttosca · 26/05/2011 10:23

Jeez... why the hostility, guys. Alice is simply asking for some input to help raise issues which people, and especially women, are concerned about.

Regardless of whatever group, wouldn't it be better to try and help out any way you can, rather than sneer and snipe from the sidelines?

Original poster
aliceliddell · 26/05/2011 16:31

ttosca, I suppose this is another effect of the chronic sectarianism that perennially plagues the left. I have attempted, with limited success, to overcome/ignore this by joining/initiating various non-sectarian groups, eg SLP, Socialist Alliance, Strike Support Group, Anti-cuts, TUSC. I will try to work with any broad unity group of socialists, TUSC is the latest incarnation of what feels like an endless series of these initiatives. Hopefully, one day it will dawn that we get the politics we deserve. Thanks for your support ttosca!

OP posts:
ttosca · 26/05/2011 16:59

You may be right, alice. Though I suspect some hostility to feminism is also involved.

I'm sorry those people I invited haven't showed up. You might get more help from the Coalition of Resistance facebook page:

www.facebook.com/pages/Coalition-of-Resistance-Cant-Pay-Wont-Pay/137748819598933?ref=ts

Good luck!

niceguy2 · 26/05/2011 17:25

I have no beef with feminism.

What I am merely trying to point out is that if the TUSC want to be taken as a credible alternative party, it would help to have a policy.

I think it's great for a party to say they offer an "alternative" but in actual fact they haven't. To be fair to them, neither has Labour but then in my mind they won't be credible either until they do.

So ok...the TUSC don't want cuts. What is their grand plan? Where is the policy stating, i don't know...we'll raise income tax on the rich. Or we'll get rid of Trident to pay for more schools. Whatever.

Any idiot can stand there saying "We don't want cuts" but if you are to be taken seriously, you need to be able to have a little more substance than that.

Original poster
aliceliddell · 26/05/2011 18:08

Well, Niceguy, I suppose if you see your role as aiming to run the same system more efficiently, then you would need a carefully worded budget statement. If your aim is to build a campaign to defend the public sector and welfare state, then you wouldn't see running the existing status quo as being your main area of responsibility.

OP posts:
leares · 26/05/2011 18:12

If there aren't going to be any cuts then there would have to be enormous tax rises to eradicate the £150 billion deficit that we have. To riase that amount of money the tax rises needed wouldn't just be on the rich they would have to be on everyone. Such tax rises would also more be very negative to economic competitiveness.

K999 · 26/05/2011 18:14

Cuts are needed because the economy is in a mess. Saying "no" to cuts (let's face it who wants cuts) is all well and good, but how are we ever going to get out this mess without them? Unless your party have some grand plan?

ttosca · 26/05/2011 23:22

It's amazing that people are still asking for alternatives to cuts as if this question hasn't been asked - and answered many times before.

www.thecutswontwork.co.uk/

www.leftfutures.org/2010/06/an-alternative-to-cuts/

vimeo.com/21480990

www.pcs.org.uk/en/campaigns/campaign-resources/there-is-an-alternative-the-case-against-cuts-in-public-spending.cfm

Original poster
aliceliddell · 27/05/2011 17:25

Cheers, ttosca! None so deaf, etc

OP posts:
leares · 27/05/2011 20:34

The problem with the solutions suggested by those websites is that it would make our economy the most uncompetitive in Europe.

ttosca · 28/05/2011 16:32

Yeah, looks like the cuts are doing wonders for the British economy - it's certainly looking 'competitive' now with the worst growth rates in europe, and consumer demand expected to be deflated for several years.