I voted labour. We had an historic victory here. I am pleased.
I think a lot of the stuff going on here is based on what I see as a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Labour Party is and to some extent an identity crisis within the party. They are the party of the labour movement, their primary function is related to economics, they are founded in ‘worker’s rights’ and this comes from a time when ‘worker’s rights’ were exclusively ‘men’s rights’ hence the deep ties with the trade unions which are still very much ‘men’s rights’ groups.
There are loads of things wrong with what the Labour Party is, but it has not become anti-women, it has a long history of being about men. The entire class analysis that the concept of a Labour Party is based on is not really how the world of work even works any more structurally never mind socially, the ways that we ran the economy in the 19th century essentially.
They make LOADS of mistakes re equalities, which are a modern expansion based on the same ideas of collective organisation that are in the labour movement; equal value and equitable treatment for all equalities issues has become attached to a party that has always been passionate about the original equality issue; economics. I don’t think they are future thinking enough regarding making the transition from the industrial revolution to the age of technology we are in now. I don’t think they really understand the change in step required to be a party for all the equalities rather than just the labour movement.
They are CLEARLY vulnerable to MRA masquerading as TRA, there is something intuitive there on a deep level.
These are things that IMO may or may not be resolved in favour of widening the equalities portfolio and doing it well in time.
However, I can certainly see that some of the same arguments that apply re feminism being a single issue and feminists not being responsible for XYZ other inequality because they are focused on women also apply to the Labour Party re economics. That’s the basis on which I am a member and on which I voted for them this time. In total awareness that they are not and never have been interested in overthrowing patriarchy.
The reality is that there is not a single party for a feminist agenda. There never was. WEP gave it a try, I’ll come to that later.
The whole political system is still adjusting to the general expansion of ‘rights’ and ‘equalities’ as an important thing and trying to work out how to approach them, whether they should centre them within their traditional politics or whether they should pay lip service to them as something people are concerned about, whether they should actually be arguing against these new things.
Labour’s reason for being re the economy is important to me. I will understand if at some point they decide not to take on the mantle of centring other equalities issues and I will understand if it widens their remit too far but I don’t think they will come to that decision.
What I see from them is the party being well meaning (which I totally HATE, well meaning idiocy/harm) and making rookie mistakes like assuming a disabled candidate won’t be an arsehole or lacking perspective on how their ‘matter of course’ traditions will be perceived by others.
I have more hope in labour than WEP TBH because of these equalities issues and how they are framed and understood and centred have borrowed a lot from the same places the worker’s movement came from. WEP lacks historical basis, this has led to more freedom and new thinking but it has also led to their idiotic position on self ID.
What everyone who has responded to equalities issues by intuitively thinking of them as things that are important needs to do IMO is proper class analysis for each issue. Labour should have a head start here but is held back by well meaning crap and tradition IMO.