With council elections coming up, I tackled the Green candidate at his stall today

[Anglophobia]

Quite interesting.

First line of defence: it's not that important an issue.
I pointed out it was, and that for every woman (me!) prepared to have a barney with him, there would be ten more who just wouldn't vote form him.

Second line of defence: oh well I don't really bother with conference, didn't go it's not really relevant.
Well, you have just found that it is relevant as it matters and it is losing you votes. perhaps you should go and put the other point of view then.

Third line of defence:
I was thinking of standing as an independent but it's a bit late for that now.
I took that as a win...

He also tried to tell me that the suffragettes would be very disappointed in me if I did not vote for someone. Which has at least made me think that I will go and spoil my ballot.

Sounds like a patronising mullet to me.

a bit, but what I got more from it was that he hadn't thought this would be an issue and was desperately trying to find a way of dealing with it on the hoof. And failing, but I do think that if we actually point out to the people on the ground that this is a problem they might at least have to think about it. One council candidate at a time...

That’s some mental gymnastics saying the suffragettes would be disappointed you don’t centre men’s rights.

Of course he knows it's an issue. That or he's so out of touch he shouldn't be standing.

So, he was dismissive, a bit more dismissive, then told you off what he imagined you might do with your right to vote.

No, I wouldn't vote for him either!

Actually, the gall of the man is quite something. 'I had no idea anyone would ask me about this.'

:)

@tabbycatstripy

Of course he knows it's an issue. That or he's so out of touch he shouldn't be standing.

I know someone in the local Greens, so I will try and get some background on this. For context though, this is a small town in the south west so ignorance is possible.

But I am enormously angry. I went for a bike ride afterwards and came back more angry than I went out, which doesn't happen often.

Brava!

I find it highly improbable. It's more likely this is the line they've been given so they can pretend they are new to the subject and don't have to commit at the stall in front of a voter. Don't be fooled. You don't stand in local elections without knowing about one of the most divisive issues in the country that has torn your own party to pieces.

His level of ignorance doesn't surprise me at all, but his admission that he didn't go to conference and then stating that it's not really relevant is shocking. We know conference attendance is pathetically low in the GP, which has resulted in some seriously skewed decisions (women having to 'identity' as women before being allowed a vote was one recent piece of rubbish that got voted in by 2 men & a dog), but saying it out loud when you're a candidate? Deserves what he gets.

If it's not important why are the Green party expelling anyone who disagrees with gender ideology? Why is it constantly promoted in their manifesto? Why is self-ID an existential issue for Green Party leadership to the extent they remove anyone who opposes it (Emma and Shahrar for example)? Seems a weird approach to have to some that is No Big Deal.

something that is No Big Deal.

He also tried to tell me that the suffragettes would be very disappointed in me if I did not vote for someone.

They'd be spinning in their graves if you vote for someone who will decimate the rights they fought so hard for.

I had Lib Dem canvassers round last night. They don’t agree with the Party position & think one who was (virtually) at Conference now feels she was sold pack of lies eg re: idea of the “spousal veto”.

I was told my concerns (& crucially, that they’re far from being “my” concerns, they’re the concerns of many women) will be fed back to the local candidate & “as high as I am able within the Party”.

Locally they might do great things. But they’d be constrained to doing it by Party rules - so they might well not.

Seeing as a lot of trans are teenage (female) trans boys maybe they would be more amenable to talking about their safety - are they safe going in the men’s?

It is ridiculous that the party supposedly the most concerned about climate change is in denial of science and biology in particular. How can they expect anyone to take them seriously?

May I suggest that you write to the Green Party and tell them all about this experience and why you're not voting for them?

[email protected]

The candidate saying he didn't think conference was all that important and he is thinking of standing as an independent is important to mention too I think.

You don't have to be a member to send an email. I hope you do also send this feedback into the local party.

I had a long discussion with a local LibDem about this and though she was sympathetic we got exactly nowhere with the party.

The people at the grass roots have often not bought into the lunacy, but the higher up you go, the less they listen.

Just had the Labour candidate at the door. I was very nervous, never done this before, but raised the issue of single sex spaces. She started by saying safety of those fleeing domestic abuse was paramount but there was a debate about segregating spaces by sex or gender. She said she had been told that transwomen were equally vulnerable as "cis women" by her local LGBT organisation. I asked her to look again at the statistics and that no transwomen had been killed in the last three years whilst hundreds of women had been. She said she would look at the stats and agreed that separate refuges probably would be the best solution for all. She then agreed with me that transwomen will retain some of their physical strength after taking hormones and for that reason should not be in women's sports or prisons. She was aware of the links between "Asperger's" and gender dysphoria and told me unprompted that many young people seeking treatment for gender issues had complex mental health issues as well but didn't want to address them. I asked her why Labour MPs weren't saying the same as her publicly. She thought they needed to "catch up on the nuances".

'Catch up on the nuance!!!' - that made me spit out my cornflakes!! It's not nuance, it's bloody science. That's the most convoluted excuse for male supremacy I've ever heard!