Maybe it'll give the next politician the strength to say the same when they do believe it, or think critically if they're not sure.
14 September 2018 James Kirkup Spectator
"If MPs can’t debate a rapist in a woman’s jail, politics has failed"
(extract)
ast week, it was confirmed that the State put a rapist and paedophile in a women’s prison. That rapist, who uses the name Karen White, then sexually assaulted four women in that prison.
This is, of course, an outrage, a failure of public administration of the first order. Many people are angry, among them members of the Government that oversaw this failure. Many people have questions about how that failure came about. How did the Prison Service come to decide that Karen White, a person with a male body and a history of violent sexual crimes, should be put in New Hall prison? (New Hall, incidentally, also has a 'mother and baby unit.' The State did not just put a rapist in a women’s jail, they put a convicted paedophile in prison with children).
Was this just a catastrophic failure of judgement? Was it the result of flawed policy on the handling of transgender inmates? Did a climate of unthinking acquiescence to the demands of a highly effective transgender rights lobby contribute to this horrible mistake?
These are all legitimate questions, questions that should be debated and answered by the ministers responsible. These are the questions that Parliament exists to debate: questions about the conduct of public policy.
As I and others have noted repeatedly, a lot of politicians privately ask such questions about transgender issues, but many keep quiet about it – for fear of being labelled 'transphobic' or worse. I know serving ministers who have real doubts about some of these things, but dare not speak publicly.
Fortunately, a few MPs are willing to speak out. The obvious seriousness of the Karen White case persuaded more than one MP that the Commons should call a minister to explain and account for the incident.
David Davies, Tory MP for Monmouth, thus tabled an Urgent Question, a parliamentary request for the House to summon a minister to discuss the issues raised by the Karen White case, and of other transgender sex offenders in the prison estate. (Yes, there are others. There is at least one male-born rapist in a women’s prison today.)
The decision to grant a UQ and summon a minister rests with the Speaker, John Bercow. He grants a lot of UQs. That annoys ministers but pleases backbenchers. It’s probably the best aspect of his tenure as Speaker. I know he annoys a lot of people, but he’s been a good servant of the Commons, giving the legislature greater bite on the executive.
Given that, I’d have bet on him accepting a UQ on Karen White and transgender inmates. He didn’t. Mr Davies says the Speaker rejected his request. There are whispers that at least one other MP was also rebuffed.
To recap: the State put a rapist in a jail full of vulnerable women. That rapist then sexually assaulted four of those women. MPs wanted to know how that happened, and to question the ministers responsible for those events. The Speaker of the House of Commons said they could not do so." (continues)
www.spectator.co.uk/article/if-mps-can-t-debate-a-rapist-in-a-woman-s-jail-politics-has-failed
thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3365319-new-kirkup-article-about-bercow-s-refusal-to-let-mps-discuss-karen-white
4th June 2018 (the week the Westminster GRA consultation was launched) Bercow hosted a Pink News event at Speaker's House:
Nick Duffy for Pink News
'Speaker John Bercow hits out at media ‘muddying the waters’ on transgender rights
(extract)
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has hit out at anti-trans voices in the media in a speech at the PinkNews summer reception in Parliament.
(extract)
Speaker Bercow was hosting the PinkNews summer reception in Westminster in partnership with Zurich, which follows events in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast.
Although the holder of the office of Speaker is required to be politically independent, Bercow has repeatedly spoken up in favour of LGBT equality during his nine years in the role. (continues)
In his speech, the Speaker hit out at anti-transgender voices in the media, the week the government launched a much-criticised consultation on gender recognition rules.
He said: “There’s still a huge challenge in terms of the trans community. We need to up our level of standing up for the rights of trans people.
“We shouldn’t allow people to peddle anti-trans messages under the guise of trying to protect other people’s rights. We shouldn’t let people muddy the waters in that way.
“It’s just not people screaming abuse in the streets – it’s sometimes people who have access to the media and can write articulately, and are using their position to push messages which I think result in very considerable and dangerous displays of hostility to trans people.
“Up with that we must not put, as Churchill might have said.”
www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/07/04/speaker-john-bercow-tells-pinknews-reception-2/
thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3396169-John-Bercow-sex-pest-ridicules-GC-Women-friend-of-Pink-News-Edward-Lord-who-refused-UQ-about-prison-policy-following-Karen-White-Case-Unconnected