Pleased to see David TC Davies MP in Cabinet

[Needmoresleep]

Appointed Welsh Secretary yesterday.

When the Banbury tales are written, he should get an honourable mention.

The very first MP to stick their head above the parapet and speak up for GC women, despite the inevitable complaints and threats.

Long timers will remember the more balls than Millwall episode when Millwall cancelled a Womans Place event after their switchboard was jammed by TRA activists. David Davies stepped in and hosted the event in the Houses of Parliament, though from memory only a tiny handful of MPs attended. Then he turned up to the protest outside the Linda Bellos court case and spoke to the media. I doubt he and Bellos agreed on many things, but they did on this and he was there with his support. Then, in November 2018, he called for a parliamentary debate (sorry don’t know the correct term) at a point when the Stonewall #nodebate was limiting discussion of the issues in the media and elsewhere and preventing GC concerns from being heard.

This is how (the equally honourable) James Kirkup concluded his report in the Spectator:

www.spectator.co.uk/article/this-mp-has-summed-up-everything-wrong-with-the-transgender-debate

“Ms Moran has said she believes trans women are women. Mr Davies has said he believes that a person with a penis cannot be a woman.

Their exchange is here:

David T. C. Davies:

'I hear what the hon. Lady is saying. May I bluntly ask her whether she would be happy sharing a changing room with somebody who was born male and had a male body?'

Layla Moran:

'I believe that women are women, so if that person was a trans woman, I absolutely would. I just do not see the issue. As for whether they have a beard, which was one of the hon. Gentleman’s earlier comments, I dare say that some women have beards. There are all sorts of reasons why our bodies react differently to hormones. There are many forms of the human body. I see someone in their soul and as a person. I do not really care whether they have a male body.'

And that, in a nutshell, is the transgender debate. Remember, Ms Moran, an intelligent and educated member of Parliament was speaking in a debate about laws that help determine how and whether people with female bodies can chose to separate themselves from people with male bodies. I’ll repeat her key observation again, just for clarity:

'I see someone in their soul and as a person. I do not really care whether they have a male body.'”

Things appear difficult now. They were really grim then. We owe a great deal to a number of good people. David TC Davies is one of them.

Absolutely.

<nothing more to add. Just want my “absolutely” to be read with 10000x the normal weight of the word. 😁 >

This is good news. I watched the livestream of that exchange with Layla Moran and Davies is a calm and thoughtful speaker. I'm glad his abilities are being recognised and put to good use.

Thank you for highlighting.

I don’t agree with his politics, but he does absolutely deserve that credit. I remember the flak he took from MPs of all parties at the time and how the TRAs tried to get him censored.

He was very brave and I admire him for it.

Yes, I can't remember whether or not his initial motivation was free speech, but I think the reaction of transactivists suddenly focused him on the issues women were having with the misogyny.

I do remember reports of the switchboard operators at the House of Commons saying they had never had so many calls trying desperately to ban the talk. Wasn't that the time where one TRA tweeted that he'd used lots of different voices in order to appear as multiple people? Sort of defeated the object by broadcasting that to the world, though.

But yes, David Davies was resolute in his determination to let women speak.

It was all arranged by Venice Allan, wasn't it?

It was Venice who started it all for me.

I am just pleased when a person with integrity is appointed to a position of influence.

Datun, I asked him about his motivation when I met him outside the Bellos/Allan trial and he did not give much away, just saying he needed to do the right thing. I don't think it was free speech per se though this would probably concern him, as he does not seem to have a reputation as a campaigner. His twitter was rather cozy with the reports of visits to hospitals and primary schools that you might expect of a diligent constituency MP. My private theory was that he became aware of problems early as Dr Helen Webberley, 'Gender GP' was based in his constituency. It was for the BMA/GMC to take appropriate action, but he knew enough to want to promote debate about the more general madness. But I might be wrong.

After leading on the issue from an exposed position, he went quiet about the point when Liz Truss took over as Women's Minister and others had stepped forward.

Is Venice still around. She was treated very badly by the Labour Party. I only met her briefly but she seemed like the sort of sensible person the Labour party really needs.

Yes indeed. I already raised a cheer on another thread.

My private theory was that he became aware of problems early as Dr Helen Webberley, 'Gender GP' was based in his constituency.

Ahh. That makes sense. And would definitely tie in with him wanting to 'do the right thing'.

He seems to have integrity and doesn't mind showing it.

Is Venice still around. She was treated very badly by the Labour Party.

She was. She was a huge supporter and they fucked her over in the most dystopian way imaginable.

I found his support of Linda Bellos moving and clearly not being done to score 'woke' or party political points! He was ahead of the game when it comes to MPs speaking up.

Thinking about this a bit more, being a brave GC politician does not seem to do careers any harm.

A few years back David TC Davies was perceived as a back bench Brexiteer. Presumably liked in his Welsh constituency but probably not much more. Whips will have noted his dignified and brave stand, which led to a junior Ministerial job, and now a senior one.

In time I hope this happens to Rosie Duffield. Even now Starmer is forced to, quietly, protect her. He probably admires her. At some point the party may need someone who considered thoughtful and principled, and who has strong support in a very marginal constituency. Joanna Cherry. Again her time may come. Sturgeon cannot continue juggling the skittles for ever. Whatever happens within parties, standing up as GC commands external respect, and parties need popular figureheads. I hope the same is true for Shahrar Ali and Emma Bateman. We need principled and courageous politicians across the political spectrum.

I am not a Tory, but I am committed fan of David TC Davies. I had correspondence with him at the time of the Cologne assaults back in 2016 and even though I was clear that I didn't vote Tory and wasn't a constituent, he was incredibly polite and helpful.

He does seem to have a genuine and longstanding concern for women's rights.

Great to see him in the cabinet. I think I might dig out his email address and send him congratulations.