Had a chat with a Labour Party Canvasser

[RadicalFern]

I've just had a chat with a Labour party highup(ish) on the doorstep: she was out encouraging us to vote. I asked her what she thought about self-ID on all women shortlists, and at first she didn't know what I meant and said she thought it was fine (she thought I meant trans people in general). When I explained that it meant being open to ANYONE who said they were a woman, no GRC needed, she looked horrified and said that she absolutely didn't agree with that. I told her it was current Labour party policy, and the view of JC that it should be so. She looked surprised and uncomfortable.

It just made me think - nobody knows what is going on at all. This agenda is being pushed through by the very few, without the knowledge of most of the people even in the parties most "pro" self-ID.

We’re told that we don’t need policy knowledge for canvassing as we’re usually following a script to save time.

This isn't unusual. All the canvassers are assumed to be generally on board with the vast majority of a party's manifesto. The party has particular messages it wants to communicate on the doorstep and particular messages to counter the most likely hostile responses. Canvassers are volunteers - there isn't time for belt and braces training. They just get given the important messages and are told to get out of there as quickly as grace allows if something tricky comes up.

It's not a Labour thing; it's an every party thing.

I mainly know about this issue from MN. I hardly seem to come across it IRL.

Langcleg, that exactly chimes with what manfink has told me. As a Labour canvasser.

This is why it’s taking so bloody long to get information out there, people have no idea what is going on and they don’t believe you/think you are exaggerating when you tell them.

I mainly know about this issue from MN. I hardly seem to come across it IRL.

Ditto. I discovered thanks to MN that I am gender critical, but I know no trans people and have literally never heard anyone in rl even mention self i.d. or the trans agenda.

It's not a Labour thing; it's an every party thing

Oh yes I can believe that.

I'm just puzzled that people who are politically engaged enough to actually get off their arses to canvas, are not politically engaged enough to find out what the policies are of the party they're canvasing for. It's so much easier to sit at your laptop and read, than it is to actually go pounding the pavement and get abuse on doorsteps, that I'm just slightly amazed. This issue has been relatively high profile recently, I would have thought that if you were at all political, you'd be aware of it, that's all.

So the first thing I'm now going to ask canvassers is 'have you read the party manifesto'.
I mean if you google 'X party manifesto' its always the first result. Its not like you'd accidentally stumble on to some horrific porn or a Mexican Cartel beheading.

I believe that everyone who goes out canvassing has their own reason for doing so; mine is to support people I respect and who I feel are the best candidates for the job. I came to Labour because of the hard work of my local councillors, rather than the manifesto.

That said, I’ve already talked with @namechangeah that I really don’t feel that I can campaign or vote for Labour at the next GE unless they come to their senses about this issue. I would very much like to be able to separate local and national politics, but our rule book is quite specific.

Now I’m off to re-read the manifesto in preparation for the 2019 local elections!

In the weeks running up to the local elections, the only party to canvas my house was Labour. I occasionally got a form through the door asking me to tick what my greatest concerns were: parking, schools, etc. There was no mention of AWS or Self-ID nor was there an 'other' box for the person being canvassed to write about their concern(s). And! The form had to be mailed back at the completer's cost.

Not surprisingly, I did not complete the form or return it.