extract from Times article:
"The tweet that landed him in really hot water was one in December 2018, in support of an article by Janice Turner in The Times, criticising Mermaids, the charity for transgender children, for being out of step with the NHS. Turner had pointed out that the NHS protocol for children is “watchful waiting” whereas Mermaids pushes for the American “affirmation” model in which any child who declares that they are trans must be treated as such. “This won’t make me popular in certain quarters but f* it — I’m with Janice,” Webb tweeted, adding, “I’ve talked to some really nice trans people here & they have my solidarity if they want it. But Mermaids sucks.”
It provoked a sustained pile-on from transgender rights activists, which had, he says, “real-life professional consequences”. I ask if he regrets the tweet, and he hesitates for six uneasy seconds.
“Not really. But on the other hand I started to say something, and then I stopped, and that means that everyone can rush in and fill in the blanks. ‘He’s a transphobe, he’s a motherf***’. Once you say ‘I’m not transphobic, but … ’ it’s a disaster. It just seems unlucky that you can’t acknowledge that there are going to be competing interests here and there without that becoming, ‘You are a bigot.’ ”
The online onslaught must have been particularly upsetting for someone who has always seen himself as a lefty progressive. He joined the Labour Party in his teens, but quit when Jeremy Corbyn became leader. At the last election, he says, “I didn’t even vote for them. I voted Green.” He looks dejected. “I didn’t really engage with the election and I choose not to think about Donald Trump. I’m not interested in the Labour leadership election. I don’t want to think about Brexit. I can’t bear it. I just don’t think I can afford to invest emotionally in that any more.”
It doesn’t sound like a rant so much as a lament, and he adds softly, “I don’t feel very proud of it, disengaging. But at the moment it’s partly a self-protective thing. I can’t face it. I’ve got these great kids, this lovely wife. Turns out I’m not going to die. I’ve got the job I always wanted to do. I don’t need to think about politics all the time.” (continues)