Labour infighting over trans issues reignited by Cass Review

[IwantToRetire]

But Rosie Duffield, a Labour MP placed under investigation by the party last year for campaigning against gender ideology, pointed out that women who had exposed the scandal had been “blanked, sidelined and dismissed” by male leaders simply for speaking up.

And feminist Julie Bindel demanded an apology from Mr Streeting for failing to support her gender-critical views when he was president of the National Union of Students.

In reply to Ms Bindel’s accusation, Mr Streeting replied: “From memory (16 years on, so correct me if I’m wrong!) I replied to confirm that you weren’t on NUS’ no platform policy and as this was in relation to a motion passed by the autonomous women’s campaign I was not empowered to overturn it (not least as a male president!).”

This prompted Ms Duffield to retweet the (Les Streeting) statement, with the message: “To the many women blanked, sidelined, dismissed by male leaders when speaking up and exposing this for years.”

And Ms Bindel wrote: “Glad to see you are now openly critical of the gender ideology that led to the atrocities against children outlined in the Cass report.

“I am open to accepting an apology from you. In 2008, when you were NUS president, I was no-platformed alongside five fascist groups for ‘transphobia’.

“I contacted you and asked for your help. You gave none. I asked you to condemn those that had orchestrated the no-platforming, and you refused.

“Have you any idea of the reputational damage this caused me? How it gave others permission to no-platform, denounce and defame me?
“How it meant that I could be slandered by other organisations, and so many, many universities around the UK and elsewhere? If this sounds bitter then good, because I am.”

To this message, Ms Duffield said: “Thank you for leading us all here Julie. Without you, most of us wouldn’t have had a clue what had been happening to children who were far too young to have the critical faculties or agency to consent.”

Extracts not full article in Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/10/labour-infighting-over-trans-issues-reignited-cass-review/

Also at https://archive.ph/IfNp8

Earlier thread about Wes Streeting https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5047018-wes-streeting-labour-shadow-health-secretary-pledges-support-for-the-cass-reviews-evidence-led-recommendations-and-our-determination-to-put-childrens-health-and-wellbeing-above-the-political-fray

Using Madigan, someone who literally set up a secret group and a list to purge women from the Labour Party, and get them into trouble with employers etc, to launch the "Kinder Gentler Politics" report was a particular triumph of poor judgement.

Yeah it was gross. Madigan was appalling.

Looks like Lily is still Lily however

https://twitter.com/authenticTERF/status/1673711708391591936

That photo is ancient.

Say what you like about Blair, he's not fucking stupid.

Well hopefully as we get closer to the election it might occur to them that women actually have the right to vote.

Also if they want to actually improve the country in a meaningful way they'll need more than 4-5 years to do it. I presume some of them are foresighted enough to realise it's not just about this election, it's also about the one after that too. Streeting I think understands that and I suspect has his eyes on the prize as a Starmer successor.

The inherent problems with gender ideology will only get worse. Labour doubling down in their first term would be frankly stupid because there's always the chance that the Tories will pull themselves together in that 4-5 years and start looking like a viable prospect once more. Like it or not the electorate can have a short memory especially if they were able to muster a vaguely charismatic leader from somewhere.

There's more in the replies. But yeah, I wonder what happened to them.

I think there's also the opposite of the 'dead cat bounce' where after a change of long-term government, the new government in their first term has to do a lot of firefighting from the dumb shit the clapped-out clueless outgoing government did in their last couple of years.

It makes them (new gov) look bad, it obstructs their implementing of policy objectives, and generally distracts them from making a difference and starting to look like they are being effective.

Cameron had that to an extent, Blair definitely did, and I'm quite sure Skier will have double (because let's face it this government are an absolute shower, never seen the like).

I agree with all of this.

People are sick of the Tories and Labour will win the next election by default. But the reasons why people are sick of the Tories will not be fixed in the next parliament. There is no quick fix to the underfunding of the NHS, or the part of the cost of living increase which is attributable to Brexit, or most of the other issues that voters actually care about. There's no money to pay for these things. The squeezed middle are already being taxed until the pips squeak and can't afford to prop up the entire country even more. The 1% are internationally mobile and can hide their assets offshore. Charging VAT on private school fees will just mean that lots of people who can currently just about afford private school for their children will be unable to continue paying, which means they'll pull their kids out and send them to the local comprehensive, putting extra pressure on resources and class sizes.

If the Tories win the next election they'll just continue with their current policies. If Labour win the next election they'll need to bring about changes which show how they are different to the Tories, and all of those changes will take a lot of time and money they don't really have.

So in the meantime, assuming that in five years' time not much has really changed for the better for the average voter, how do they get elected for a second term?

By promoting values which align with the values of the average voter.

"Women can have penises" is not in alignment with what the average voter thinks.

@MissScarletInTheBallroom I agree with all of that, it's an exciting time, but also dangerous. Meanwhile the tories have no pressure on them, can regroup and I dunno, maybe get back to a broader toryism rather than the Brexit At All Costs mental cases that are basically all that is left after Johnson purged all the wets.

Sorry that last post tangented and escalated quite quickly!

😆😆

In some respects losing members won't necessarily be a bad thing for them. It can be freeing. I think they tripled their membership under Corbyn because they reduced the cost to a few quid for a time. With that sort of membership base a party can suffer from a form of audience capture.

The Tories have never had very high membership numbers but then again they have had large political donors - another form of capture. No perfect solution but Labour losing memberships probably won't have much bearing on whether they can win an election.

If you think about it, it's not contradictory at all.

They're losing the support of zealots with strong opinions about fringe issues, because they're trying to appeal to the silent majority of people who just want to live in a sensible country.

Yeah.
The black pinafore dress/outgrown roots look is from Lily’s 2017/2018 heyday.
As far as I can tell there have been no photos of LM since the sexual harassment allegations were made by a fellow goldsmiths student?

Thank God Cass has been published before labour get in power. It gives us a glimmer of hope that they won’t be able to push through legislation that needs stopping.

House of Lords will help.

I might name change again. AGlinnerOfHope has a certain ring to it…

My favourite unsubstantiated personal theory is that Madigan ditched the pinafores for a grey suit and is now a trainee accountant in somewhere like Slough and his fellow grey suits have no idea he once trolled women for fun with she/her pronouns.

<happysigh>

2019 Tweet thread on allegations against LM:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1148841046442434562.html

Not entirely true. https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/sep/29/labour-conservatvies-uk-party-membership-is-tiny

Historically the Conservatives have had many more members. Probably why they were able to be more successful at understanding people's needs and appealing to the electorate.

Streeting behaved appallingly. I would love to believe in his change of heart but suspect he is just hoping to be seen as the new PM and is MUCH smarter than Starmer so he can see which way the wind is blowing.

Blair is still so much more politically savvy than Starmer.

What was his name before the 'transition' - anyone know?

Liam Madigan

IURC he sued/tried to sue his school when he transitioned for not letting him change with the girls 🤮

https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/transgender-labour-womens-officer-rochester-817234

Info on pre ‘Lily’ activity here.