Sunak and Braverman’s trans jokes ‘unacceptable and dangerous’ says Parliament equalities chief Caroline Nokes

[IwantToRetire]

Caroline Nokes, Tory chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, warns against ‘seeking to make a group of people the butt of jokes’

Parliament’s women and equalities chair Caroline Nokes has given a dressing down to Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman over jokes about trans people.

Earlier this month, Suella Braverman joked in the Commons chamber that “we can’t rule out” Keir Starmer “running to be Labour’s first female prime minister” – while a leaked recording surfaced of Rishi Sunak last month telling Tory MPs in the 1922 Committee that the Liberal Democrats were “busy trying to convince everybody that women clearly have penises”.

Ms Nokes, a Tory MP who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee, told news podcast What the Trans?: “I think it’s hugely othering, it’s very dangerous, and it’s seeking to make a group of people the butt of jokes. I just think it’s unacceptable.”
Addressing Ms Braverman’s remark, Ms Nokes said: “To be quite frank, it was a ridiculous comment. I thought it was very telling that there was silence in the House, there was tumbleweed rolling down the aisles… let’s not use the House of Commons chamber to poke fun at marginalised groups or some sort of school debating society, we should be setting ourselves higher standards.”

Of Mr Sunak’s remarks, she said: “I just think we need to be better than that, we really do.”

The MP – who attended Cabinet under Theresa May but has remained on the backbenches under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – acknowledged that her argument “may be failing within my own party at the moment” but stressed some Tory MPs are supportive of transgender people.

She also expressed “grave concerns” about the state of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the nation’s equality watchdog, after a Channel 4 News investigation unearthed claims of a toxic environment and a rapid staff turnover.
“I get reports from EHRC staff anonymously that it is not a happy ship,” Ms Nokes revealed.

She expressed concerns that there was a “very particular direction of travel when it comes to gender critical views” at the regulator since the organisation’s chair Baroness Falkner was appointed in 2020 by then-equalities minister Liz Truss.
Ms Nokes said: “I look at the appointment now through the prism of, this was an appointment done by Liz Truss, who had a very particular agenda when it came to equalities.”

Part of quite a long interview in iNews https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/rishi-sunak-suella-braverman-trans-jokes-parliament-equalities-chief-2467613

I would have thought as a Chair she shouldn't voice an opinion. It is her role to hear all sides of an issue, and try and find a common ground or agreed way forward. Seems nobody has standards anymore. Flag waving seems to take precedence.

If iNews is behind a paywall for you go to https://archive.ph and copy in the iNews web link as it has been archived there.

I wonder if Caroline Nokes banks at Coutts? Sounds like they’d love her. She’s the right kind of politician for them.

Poor old Rishi though, he may be banking with the post office soon.

The Lib Dem’s lost my vote once they declared women can have penises. Everyone knows biologically they can’t.
Highlighting their stance and having a joke about it only shows how ludicrous their position is. Everyone knows it. It’s like a massive elephant in the room that no one wants to address.
The “be kind” line has been hijacked too, because the rule seems to be “you’re only being kind if you agree with me”. I can be kind and still disagree.

The moment a society becomes unable, prevented or too scared to poke fun at ridiculous aspects of itself, is the moment it becomes a truly frightening place. Like living in North Korea and having to go along with every whim of the great leader without being able to make any comment about it.

Laughing and making jokes about things is what keeps ridiculous ideas, and massive egos at bay. it's a very healthy, and necessary part of society.

I'm still thinking any man who says they're a women is a joke so bring it on.

This is an interesting post. I detest Caroline Nokes but this makes me detest her 1% less.

To me this is why I can't fathom voting labour of the lib dems. They sound so stupid when they show they don't even know what a woman is. How can you trust them with state affairs.

Ultimately I care more about demonstrable ability to govern for more than their immediate voters. Tories for 13 years have governed almost exclusively for Tories, particularly those who if they didn't vote Tory would vote UKIP/Reform. Also like any government over 10 years old they are past being any use and down to the most vicious inadequates to take office (eg Braverman). A government that includes 'Grant Shapps' as one of its big hitters is just terrible. I'm certain Braverman knows what a woman is but that's literally all she knows, and its not good enough for me.

Labour are clearly correcting course on this issue to something that is at least defensible even if not ideal from my point of view. The shadow cabinet looks pretty good and I think they will do a competent job. Hence my vote.

I think Braverman speaks fluently on many issues - even if you don't agree on her consclusions. for example, she spoke very firmly, and clearly, about the unacceptability of a radical muslim minority persecuting the school boy a few months back and about the importance of free speeech in a democratic society. There would have been few who could have disagreed with what she said, nor the spirit in which it was spoken.

Read an interview with Bridget Phillips in the Times a few days ago. People are saying she is GC - but judging by that interview she is not.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bridget-phillipson-labour-mp-interview-keir-starmer-txwlwn78d

Isn't it just!

"She feels the same about whether children should be allowed to socially transition to another gender at school. “For me, the starting point has to be young people’s wellbeing and I think we’re losing sight of that. It is becoming all about disputes between government ministers, a highly politicised, headline-grabbing issue, when at the heart of this, you’re talking about children who may well be experiencing distress, who want to be supported.”
So what would the guidance say if Labour were in power? “I think it’s very hard to give a blanket answer. It will depend on the age and maturity of the child. In most cases, parents will be involved in these discussions — they will know what their child is feeling and they will want to support their child. I think sometimes we lose sight of that and it becomes a kind of new culture war frontier.”

( Bridget Phillips)

You beat me to it! But I agree with Ms Noakes, it certainly isn't funny.

She doesn't think it's funny because harassing, threatening and belittling trans people with words (her perception, not mine)..

You don't think it's funny for other reasons, possible.

It's the reasons that matter.

Ah, the Labour Script.

Next comes 'we need less heat, and more light'.

It's Bridget Phillipson, just to note.

When Bridget Phillipson was a child she was shunned and ostracised in the playground because she was so poor. “I was bullied at school,” she tells us. “Parents didn’t want their children mixing with people like me, or coming to where we lived. As time wore on, frankly I wouldn’t blame them, because it wasn’t a great place to be. The street was on a downward spiral.” (From the Times article)

See, I'm not sure that I believe this. This seems to be a Labour 'origins script'. Poor, marginalised, bullied, different ...

She attended a Catholic school followed by Oxford University.

And I don't think living in a small terraced house in the NE is quite the deprivation she makes it out to be. I'm very fond of mine, and feel lucky. Bloody lucky. My children have never been bullied for the street they live(d) on. What a bizarre claim.

I wish Labour front bench would re-connect with honesty. They are so hard to trust now, given the ludicrous lies they say they believe.

Labour are clearly correcting course on this issue to something that is at least defensible even if not ideal from my point of view.

Are you in support of getting rid of the spousal exit clause then?

And GPs selling new birth certificates?

Yep. It's aimed at politicians or trans ideology.

Ideology shouldn't be above criticism, just because it's associated with a minority.