Labour canvasser today

[SirSamVimesCityWatch]

I'm in one the constituencies with a by-election coming up.

Just had a labour canvasser (woman, mid/late fifties) knock to ask if I was voting. I said yes I would be.

She asked if I knew who I was voting for. I asked if she knew what a woman was. I told her I was a single issue voter and that was the only issue that was going to decide how I voted.

Her response: "I believe a woman is anyone who believes themself to be a woman".

I told her in that case I have nothing else to say to her, and closed the door.

I would have loved to have actually put some of the issues to her (rapists in prisons, assaults in mixed sex spaces, including schools, destruction of women's sports etc) but my heart was already racing and I knew it would be like talking to a brick wall anyway.

But anyway - at least that's a clear pile in the eye for the whole 'it doesn't come up on the doorstep' nonsense.

So, I'm either voting Tory or SDP.

People pointed out the flaws in your post.

Not remotely ‘flamed’

God KS was absolutely useless on the BBC this morning!
LK absolutely wiped the floor with him.

Demonising/deheumanising a whole range of people in such a way is not very edifying. As someone has just stated - hatred that is based on tribal feeling is not enough to make an incoming Labour government successful.

I'm an ex Labour Party member. I don't every single conservative party member is a " cunt". In fact.., i like a nd have respect for quite a few. And vice versa, I have strong antipathy to quite a number in the Labour Party - including my own MP.

Hatred is no way to build unity

The panel not impressed at all

Exactly. It'll happen. Just look what they're up to in Wales. And Labour whipped to support self-ID in Scotland.

The infiltration of our public and private institutions has only been resisted as much as it has, due to various women putting themselves through hell, and a combination of Conservatives who reject that level of interference in our lives, and the Lords.

I missed it but my god he’s bad in those situations

If I didn’t think it would be so damaging for women and girls I’d have them in just to dispel the idea they’re going to be any good

It won't matter once Labour is in power, plus they'll have the manifesto pledges that people have voted for.

i suppose what I’m saying is why would you hand your opponents ammunition? Unless you’re just incredibly complacent or dim

@IJustHadToLookHavingReadTheBook

“Come on. You'd be better joining the Labour Party and fighting your corner from within. The issue of sex-based rights is important, and I don't deny it's place in political debate, but it's a small slice of a very large pie. Single-issue voting doesn't make sense when the country is in the state it is and being run by these people who wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire. If you vote for this corrupt and frankly evil government, I hope that you can look yourself in the mirror. “

Can you talk us through what success you’ve had as a member of the Labour Party fighting your corner from within? Posters on here are generally very keen to learn from those with experience and insight. What actions, arguments and tactics were most / least successful in your experience?

If you’re in Scotland which arguments/ tactics were the cause of you failing to persuade Scottish Labour to vote against the SNP’s GRA bill, would you say?

If you’re in Wales, what arguments / tactics, in your opinion, were the cause of you failing to persuade Welsh Labour against committing to seeking powers to introduce their own GRA bill and conversion therapy legislation?

Conservative Women seem to have been much more successful than Labour women at persuading their parties to listen. Why do you think GC Labour women haven’t had the same success? And why do you think Rosie Duffield is so isolated as an ‘out’ GC Labour MP?

The VAT on private school fees is going to have to stretch awful long way isnt it
labour really are a bunch of absolute tools

Like many left wing men he gets twitchy when challenged by women. Corbyn was the same.

I think the R4 one I heard was a male interviewer

He’s not good at those interviews

Surprisingly shit on his feet, given his professional background

@RebelliousCow I'm not hating the Tories based on anything tribal. Have you seen their antics the last few years?

Just watch Patrick Harvie (Scottish Greens) being challenged by a woman - the sheer rage.

There are still many in the Labour Party who think winning elections leaves a nasty stain on their reputation. If there's a way of losing, they'll find it.

Or Mark Drakeford

Bloody hell the misogyny

Fine post. I wonder if it will be answered.

The issue of retaining (let alone progressing) womens rights and the ability to define our sex in law and society is more than just a single issue for me. Self ID or a change of definition, so that female ‘sex’ includes males, has tentacles into every area of life.

Hospital and medical care
Psychiatric and MH services
Crisis support
Sports
Schools
Children’s safeguarding
Dignity at work
Awards and recognition
Pay gap
Representation in politics and society
Representation on boards
Inclusion in R&D, service development and policy
LGB rights
Carers and disabled peoples rights for same sex provision

And yes it’s about dignity and privacy. Safety is a low bar to quibble over IMHO.

The issue of sex-based rights is important, and I don't deny it's place in political debate, but it's a small slice of a very large pie

It’s huge, 50% of the population and all children rely on it. I can’t see past that I’m afraid.

Yep. Ever was it thus.

Or of course, Lloyd Russell-Moyle. Who when he failed to shout female MP's down, sat unnecessarily close to them to make sure they were aware of just how cross he was with them..

Politics is about setting out your vision and then implementing it. Opposition is part and parcel of the process.

t’s huge, 50% of the population and all children rely on it. I can’t see past that I’m afraid.

this! I’ve never voted anything but Labour but I’ll be fucked if I’ll vote for a party that goes into the next election regarding the sex based rights of 50% of the population as some insignificant non issue

Hello @LoobiJee

Personally, where I am in the country (London) and at our local branch it's a topic very up for discussion and with diverse views- it's far from being a "TWAW and there's no further discussion" situation in our little corner of the Labour Party. I'm a school governor at a girls school where no trans girls have been admitted and that's an ongoing conversation at my local branch of the party too- conversation about female spaces etc come up often and we are all in agreement that letting trans women in without question or debate is not appropriate in female spaces. I have daughters, I have skin in the game and care deeply and worry a lot about this. I'm very aware of the importance of protecting female spaces and why, but also uncomfortable at some of the anger on the GC side that starts to edge towards bigotry and think of the shadow of the way gay people were treated in society and law until very recently in this country.

I can't speak for the national party and I do think that Starmer and co. are woolly on this stuff, but part of that is because of the nature of our sound-bitey media and a culture war that been stoked up by the Tories precisely in order that they can point and say "Labour don't even know what a woman is!" I genuinely don't believe that the Tories give a rats arse about what a woman is, why would they... they don't care about kids, the elderly, the sick or the otherwise disadvantaged and they protect rapist MPs and sex criminals within their own party... seems weird to me that to some GC women the Tories have become the face of feminism 🤷🏼‍♀️

I hope that even if that's not what you wanted to hear from me it proves a thoughtfulness on my part and that I am doing stuff and trying to come up with a workable solution within my own community; I'm not just an armchair warrior mouthing off.

A more important issue than the economy, the NHS, infrastructure, the rights of immigrants etc?

Why vote on a single issue?! That’s totally crazy to me.