The Rest is Politics podcast

[Stripeytriangle]

Anyone else listen to this?

I was so disappointed by the “trans question” they answered in today’s episode - it was why are trans people used in the culture wars and isn’t it awful to treat vulnerable people as a political football.

And the answer was, yes, it’s terrible and (Rory) in 10 years’ time, no one will understand why we were obsessed with this and (Alistair) it’s reflective of the lack of seriousness in politics - trans people have it bad enough without politicians making it was by playing for applause from the golf club bores.

I agree that trans people should not be used for cheap political points - nor should any minority.

But their conversation was itself utterly unserious: no acknowledgement that there are some serious policy issues to untangle, no reflection on the recent court cases nor of the findings of the interim Cass Review, no consideration of any conflicts of rights - no acknowledgement in fact that there is anything to be seen here other than nasty people in the nasty party playing to the nasty crowd by picking on a highly marginalised group.

I feel disproportionately disappointed because I think of these two, especially Rory, as quite serious ideas people.

I’m neither a Tory nor a golfer, but I was utterly relieved by Braverman’s speech affirming my right to single sex spaces and my kids’ right not to be socially transitioned without my knowledge. This really shouldn’t be a left/right issue - it’s a human rights and safeguarding issue. In ten year’s time I think we’ll look back at this as an era when groupthink and massive failures of safeguarding led to life-altering surgery rendering many gay, autistic and looked-after children infertile, in pain and deprived of a sex life.

What was going on in this podcast? Have they not engaged with the issues beyond #bekind or are they scared of the jkr treatment?

I noticed Fiona Millar (Campbell's partner) re-tweeting some "T with the LGB"/"Be kind" stuff today as well. They'll get there, they just can't see it yet!

They have a daughter, Grace, who is very pro-TRA - I think quite a lot of parents take their cue on this issue from their teenage/young adult children, which is bizarre, frankly. Why would you take your political views from someone whose brain hasn't finished developing?

Sample tweet from daughter:

twitter.com/gracecampbell/status/1269555597999050753

Why would you take your political views from someone whose brain hasn't finished developing?

Grace Campbell is nearly 30, if her brain hasn't developed now, it never will.

But I get your point. Politicians would appear bonkers if they said they were informed about inflation targets or military spending by their children.

To be honest, I'm more than a little sceptical of men who look at men who want to remove women spaces and inexperienced teens on one side, and safeguarding experts and women who want single sex spaces on the other, and say its a storm in teacup and let's all just be nice to each other.

Can anyone point out which episode it is? i.e.. what date and what else was covered? I looked up the podcast on Spotify but there are loads of episodes listed.

Rishi won't stop banging on about how his environment policy comes from his kids either. Then tells us the one of the most effective things we can do to stave off environmental collapse is to recycle. Sigh...

It's the most recent one, Question Time from Thursday 10 Aug, it's about 4 minutes from the end

I was disappointed by both of them tbh. I love the podcast but they were just so predictably surface-level about it. Initially I thought Rory was being a bit ambiguous about which side he was on, but then he went and said that the demographic 'most wound up about this' is middle-aged and elderly (didn't name women though, ha!). Says it all really.

Beats me why anyone is surprised by this. It’s precisely the line I’d expect both of them to take.
both very much yesterdays men, thankfully. I did enjoy the clip of Douglas Murray taking the piss out of Campbell I saw on Twitter tho.

Why would we bother? Do these people matter?

This ^

@TullyApplebottom they have been at the top of the podcast charts for weeks now and I think they have been quite influential in turning people into politics who were not interested before.

I think the proportion of people who even know who they are in this country is vanishingly small.
members of the over privileged chattering class chattering. Who gives a fuck. They’re followers not leaders on this; the real damage has been done elsewhere.

Although if I had the opportunity to custard pie either of them with impunity, I’m not saying I’d turn it down.

I love this podcast so it’s really disappointing but I think it’s as @howdoesatoastermaketoast - no skin in the game. And they’ve not thought it through - that attitudes towards women’s rights tell us something about the general health of a society.

I honestly find the podcast quite boring, and I'm a totally immersed politics buff. Neither of them say much of interest IMO except when they talk about overseas issues (which to be fair they are both better on than most British politicians) or the Northern Ireland situation which they both understand well. Campbell is astonishingly closed minded and predictable. Stewart, I suspect, is being a coward.

Agree with PP that if you want genuinely curious-minded intellectual courage, listen to Tom Holland on Rest is History. Totally different calibre of brain.

@Mollyollydolly : "Same goes for 'Remainiacs' used to love it, but they are all the same on this issue too."

What, even Ian Dunt? Given how he always used to wang on about "objective reality", and he was quite supportive to Helen Lewis when she got booted off some computer game for her supposedly terfy views, that's disappointing.

Tom Holland's wife was my midwife :)

Haven't listened to this but, considering posters are saying they abhor it being a political football that they've apparently decided to go down their political line (assuming Stewart is still a LibDem?) rather than bucked it.

Pro TRA = is left wing
GC = is right wing

is total bollocks invented and propagated by TRA for their own nefarious ends.

I've listened now. It's so gratifying, as a gender critical woman, but be lumped in as a 'golf club bore' by fucking Alistair Campbell, isn't it?
And, as a previous poster said, I don't think RS can rise above wanting to be liked.
Such a shame, as I enjoy the podcast.
And the way they went on about how young people don't find all this a problem, and, as a problem, it will die out in a decade. So that's ok then is it?

I tried The Rest is History and gave up as it seemed to be 2 blokes rambling on and generally loving the sound of their own voices.

and I think that you'll find that RS still sees himself as Conservative

I bloody love the Rest is History.

Doesn’t stop him being a pompous bore

Thanks for starting this thread. I listen to the podcast to get back to sleep after 4am wakes, but instead I got the rage this morning. Though like others I felt steeled for this after Campbell said something like "young people should take over" a few weeks ago. What is it with mature, politically experienced adults being infatuated with misrepresentations of some kind of pretend coherent "youth politics", in the context of capture by other "grown ups" at Stonewall and beyond?

I feel better for knowing I wasn't the only one and have written an email to them (which I might even send - I work at a university so get the fear...)

If they don’t think the issue is important they should at least have the critical thinking skills to ask themselves why so many women are receiving death threats over it, losing their jobs, being booted off Twitter etc. Clearly some people think it’s very important.

What is it with mature, politically experienced adults being infatuated with misrepresentations of some kind of pretend coherent "youth politics", in the context of capture by other "grown ups" at Stonewall and beyond?

It's another manifestation of the "identity politics" disease. Some vocal people within a group denote themselves the spokespeople for the group, and others feel they have to go along with it.

Anyone in the group with a different opinion doesn't really count.

It's also faulty reasoning/intuition. "Young people are more open to change" is true, but it doesn't follow from that that a change is good or will stick, or that any resistance is simply coming from lack of openness to change.

If a change is good, and can be shown to be good, then sure, those opposing it just due to resistance to change will fade away, and it can stick.

But with something like this, the more people are aware of it and see it in practice, the more resistance grows, everywhere. Most acceptance is coming from general openness to change (or trying to virtual signal openness to change), not actually considering it properly.