Had a local LibDem councillor at the door earlier canvassing for the European elections, so I’ve just talked him through my utter dismay at the state of debate around the GRA reforms and the LibDem’s position on it, the frankly appalling, dismissive statements by some of their Westminster colleagues and why this isn’t a simple fix to the process, that it has huge implications for society.
I talked about women’s prisons, the impact on crime and health stats and service planning, the erosion of safeguarding frameworks and the impact on other protected groups. He said I wasn’t the first person to have raised this and other people had raised concerns. I said he needed to get word back to HQ to engage with this and stop dismissing women with genuine concerns as transphobic bigots. I may have been a bit sweary, but I was quite clear that I am politically engaged, always vote and am currently so disenfranchised by all the main parties that I’m considering spoiling my ballot at the next GE.
Man, it felt good to get it off my chest! If any of you have canvassers on your doorsteps in the next few weeks, it’s a great opportunity to let the grassroots know what you think. It would be useful to have some handouts by the front door. I wish I could have remembered which senior LibDem it was that told GC feminists they weren’t welcome in the party. He tentatively suggested Layla Moran, so I obviously wasn’t the first person to raise it. 