Brighton shows why you shouldn’t vote Labour - Julie Burchill (and a mention of IamSarah)

[IwantToRetire]

The pleas of many local parents to rid our schools of pesty wokeness have fallen on deaf ears. Classrooms have become petri dishes for social experiments in defiance of parental wishes. Is it really possible that, a few years ago, one school in Brighton, labelled as ‘the coolest state secondary in town’, once had as many as 40 children who did not identify with their sex at birth with another 36 saying they were ‘gender fluid’? Or is this social contagion, as eating disorders are now often understood to be, among sad teenagers desperate to identify as something or anything, rather than feel lonely? Whatever it is, the council are hindering rather than helping these confused adolescents. Sometimes it seems as though there is an almost sadistic element to the way right-on teachers torment distraught parents. Isn’t it odd to send people who think diversely off for re-education, or re-‘training’?

And another thing, after boasting that ‘diversity is strength’, isn’t it odd to send people who think diversely off for re-education, or re-‘training’? This is what the Sainted Bella did after Councillor Alison Thomson retweeted posts supporting JK Rowling and the feminist Germaine Greer. Even though the culprit apologised unreservedly, Chairman Sankey frowned, ‘I have also taken the decision to remove Councillor Thomson from her lead role on city centre renewal while further investigation is carried out and subject to her completing training.’ Because nothing says not being qualified to work on renewing city centres like believing in women’s rights.

But not even the re-training of the hapless Thomson was enough for one Green councillor, Chloe Goldsmith. She asked how Labour would ‘meaningfully demonstrate’ to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning/queer, asexual plus (LGBTIQA+) people that the party would stand up for them. This brought another avalanche of woo-woo affirmation from Labour, with the situation continuing ad infinitum.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/brighton-shows-why-you-shouldnt-vote-labour/

Gosh this thread is boringly predictable.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Labour Party would just do the right thing by women and children on this issue? Then left leaning women wouldn't have to be scolded or be accused of being closet Tories, or bigots or whatever for simply pointing out what a disappointment the left is on this.

I fear Labour are going to room home to a victory with their anti-women policies still largely intact. My only hope is that Starmer, despite being the consummate fence sitter on this topic, does actually see the way the wind is blowing and will diplomatically quash it, without ever appearing to do anything much.

I really can’t tell whether he’s properly useless (as he appears to be) or whether he will turn out to be much cannier than I am currently giving him credit for.

Either way, I don’t think I can bring myself to vote Conservative, Labour, SNP or Green, which doesn’t leave me with many options unless there’s an SDP or independent in my area.

My only hope is that Starmer, despite being the consummate fence sitter on this topic, does actually see the way the wind is blowing and will diplomatically quash it, without ever appearing to do anything much.

He's not going to sit up and listen whilst some women wave all this through because 'not as bad as the Tories'.

I can't understand women who do that. It's so tribal.

It is baffling.

Where I am it's a stark choice between Tory and SNP.

I can see some are getting quite rattled for getting called out on this

no one is getting rattled

Apologies rayon

i see people have already said that!

should have refreshed 🤦🏻‍♂️

Rattle and refresh, Rufus!

Google Rod Liddle.

Which press do you rate @Dinoland?

I wish i rattled, i mainly wobble

To be honest I'm pretty disillusioned with them all.
I'm disappointed with the Guardian for their stance on GC, the sacking of brilliant women's rights journalists and the sacking of Steve Bell which was utterly shameful.
I find the Times distinctly OK. Their coverage of culture (which I have a particular interest in) is very poor.
The Telegraph doesn't align to my political views.

(That was in response to @EasternStandard)

I agree with every word of this.

I too want to vote anything but Tory. On being asked for their position on women's rights and self-ID, the Lib Dem candidate made vaguely realistic noises but made it clear she would toe the party line; the Labour candidate didn't deign to respond.

The Tory MP is responsive, firmly GC and actually takes action.

It's a very blue constituency so my vote counts for basically nothing anyway, but for me it's either spoil the ballot or opt for the choice that will stand up for women.

Why are people getting upset because Labour's massive flaws are being exposed? What will they do when political discussion turns from violent anti-woman activism to how their economic policy is no different from that of the Tories and how they will in fact undertake even worse crackdowns on disability benefits? Tribalism is a terrible thing. It's a grotty political party, not a footie team or a pop star - it's really strange to get upset because the truth isn't being hidden. Are we all supposed to lie because your identity and sense of self depends on being perceived as left wing even though the basis for your belief in that ie unquestioning universal adherence to a political party is fundamentally wrong? Myself, I'm spoiling my ballot.

Well, quite, seahorses.

Why is the answer always for women to shut up, rather than Labour to just STOP BEING FUCKING USELESS on this issue?

Alternatively, google Owen Jones.

Labour are so pathetic on this issue but at least they won't cause as much endless misery to women through austerity, allowing Brexit, trashing the economy especially impacting the poorest especially in jobs over represented by women, destroying the NHS, running our schools and on and on.

I would be pleased to be wrong and await the manifesto but, afaict, Labour

• is committed to continuing austerity
• will do nothing to walk back Brexit
• was or is leading councils who fought to deny women back payments for dragging out the equal pay dispute
• responsible for the state of the NHS in Wales…

I'm emphatically among the politically dispossessed because Labour moved away from me. I grieve for it and, to some extent, post Giles Udy's work, I grieve for my naivety.

Julie B will be loving this thread! This is why she writes and is particularly good at it. Thank goodness for her.

I resemble that remark! On a good day, I waddle.

I agree .

The left has entirely abandoned you though. I’m happily centre left. I’ve got a coffee coated with “fuck the tories” written on it and a badge saying “never kissed a Tory”. I was born in 1978 and brought up to hate them.

but …. The left is entirely ideologically captured by this fantasy which harms children, women and society (and men for that matter). There is no recourse except to tell those on the left they will lose us until this is addressed fairly. I wrote to Keni and told her this is a vote winner for me and I’d never had said that 5 years ago.

this is the ideologues fault. The left takes us for granted at its peril.

@Alltheprettyseahorses I also don't like Owen Jones.

Perhaps voting according to individual MP rather than party allegiance is increasingly a good idea. Diversity of ideas within a political party is probably healthy to an extent.

This doesn't necessarily help much, depending on local candidates...

Thank you for your excellent post RayonSunrise
exactly right. I feel like a Cassandra endlessly posting ‘but what have the Tories actually DONE, in law, to support or even further promote women’s rights?’Rather than just said in some newspaper soundbites?’ And being told as if this was an answer, that we are lucky we don’t have a Labour government.

.. the only answer I can think of is: the Tories have given us the £5 GRC.

The Tories were confident that self ID was right, they ignored women’s protests and wanted to bring in self ID. We were a hair’s breadth away from getting it in the UK until more powerful figures than us (at that time mostly women who wouldn’t have been Tory voters anyway) must influenced them.

I don’t believe that any major UK party will try making that specific legal change now in the next few years because of the gathering opposition there has been to it.. too much sunlight and fresh air and pink leggings in the media.. but there is also a gathering backlash of people who very committed to making self ID happen.

I think the inertia on this will be calculated by main political parties in fact, it suits them to have activists not looking at government failures but endlessly fighting with each other instead. Keeping the threat of misogynistic gender identity-friendly policies dangling over women keeps us in our place if we start to ask governments for ‘too much’. In the same way dangling the distant promise in front of genderists that it will all happen in future, just wait it out and bide your time for the TERFs to move on to the next thing, also keeps the pro self ID camp voting for major parties, not scrutinising governments in favour of social media scrapping, and not publicly asking for ‘too much’… it’s very convenient isn’t it.

So definitely this issue is going to be the ongoing fight of our lifetimes whoever is in power.

So no, I’m not voting Tory because I don’t believe in food banks becoming essential to avoid starvation, my family and too many people I know are suffering daily from public services like the NHS, schools and local councils being starved of funds from central government. And i think ingrained child poverty is not inevitable. And we are all suffering from high energy prices and a housing crisis and an environment emergency left untackled. I mean, just to name a few. Oh and Brexit! And its social division and colossal waste of taxpayer money and its loss of opportunity and the tangible things that really affect individuals I know like constant medicine shortages.

Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak have all been terrible for the country in different ways., and personally I believe we can’t afford more of the the same from the Tories. I can’t vote to reward it. The Tories don’t love gender critical women back. I am quite sure of that. This is just a convenient culture war for them. As it is with other potential governments. So vote how you want.

@NecessaryScene 'ad locum' is genius - and also a very astute observation.

Plus a touch of Latin always improves a day.