Keir Starmer to end Tory Culture Wars

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Oh what a relief. Where would we be without him?

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/exclusive-keir-starmer-says-he-will-end-tory-culture-wars-if-he-becomes-prime-minister_uk_6666d7d2e4b02fc48bf3ec39?d_id=7763591&ncid_tag=tweetlnkukhpmg00000001&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=uk_main

It's such a lazy thing to say....and once again paints women defending their rights as 'wrong'.

So that makes it sound that he's just going to refuse to deal with it. Ignore the percentage of the electorate that this really matters to.

Nothing irritates or upsets me more than claims, from certain factions, that opposition to the sterilisation of children is just another part of the “Culture Wars”.

If stopping this is part of a “Culture War”, then this is me:

What by repealing the gender recognition act and ensuring that men born men stay men and stay out of women’s spaces? No thought not Keir.

If he thinks women are exhausted and can be silenced he has another think coming. Someone should send him a copy of this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Women-Who-Wouldnt-Wheesht/dp/1408720701

“That’s why I’ve said that politics needs to tread more lightly on people’s lives.”

I read this as obtaining a GRC will be entirely on a self ID basis. No assessments required.

Even if it's right to dismiss these legitimate differences of opinion as "culture wars", how can he "end them on day 1"?!

People disagree about all sorts of things not just women's rights. For example immigration.

How can Starmer stop us all from disagreeing "on day 1"?!

If anything, all their hullabaloo about vat on private schools is 100% culture war flame-fanning

Remember the War on Terror?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_terror

Another example of vowing to sort out something amorphous where the thing can be defined differently according to what you want to signal to the public.

It really makes me despair.
He's not unintelligent but he's effectively ignoring so many people's valid concerns (not just about GC issues) without actually addressing ANY of them.
Just 'shut up and for God's sake don't talk about cervixes'.
This man will almost certainly soon be in power, with a stonking majority.
I don't want the conservatives in power, but does anyone want this?

Exactly why I said it is a lazy thing to say...it's meaningless!

I am a lefty, always voted Labour. But this is nonsense. What the fuck is a culture war? There are two sides to every argument ergo there is a culture war? No Keir, there is biological reality, and then there is pretend fairy tales. Stop with this! It makes me sick to my stomach to think he is going to be in charge. They left women behind a long time ago, they have played whatever game culture wars are. Fuck off Keir.

If he can end a culture war on day 1 why not use that ability to end a real war instead?

It's such a bizarre thing to say. Especially as they're so far ahead in the polls. Why bother? I would be inclined to ignore it and hope it goes away if I were him. I wouldn't be drawing attention to their lack of action in opposition while women and children suffered avoidable damage.

Yesterday on World At One , Jose Manuel Barroso was asked why the Social Democrats vote collapsed in Germany. He said they had become distracted by Identity Politics and Genderism. Barroso is himself a Social Democrat. He said they had forgotten their job is to represent the working class.

The female presenter ignored this point however. Culture of fear at Radio 4.

Does the Labour party not realise it is an outlier in being the likely next government in the UK? And that if it carries on with identity politics and genderism* it won't be in government for long?

Why the hell is the left shooting itself in the foot like this?

Even if you ask that question, you get accused of being a Tory shill, here on MN and elsewhere.

• And it will, see Starmer's latest on "ending the Tory culture war" in question - what else could that mean?

Edited - managed to delete a chunk unintentionally

Well that'll be nice.
It's great that he's got a plan that's totally fair to both sides and that no one will want to keep campaigning against in either direction.
It must be a bloody impressive solution if it's going to achieve that.

With those kinds of powers he shouldn't be wasting those talents on such petty issues. He should be able to apply the same skills to declare an end to hostilities in the middle east and in Ukraine - those are much more important issues after all, much more violent and fatal but just as easy to declare that that's enough fighting and everyone can stop now and be sensible.

"... culture wars force people into taking sides that they're not instinctively inclined to do."

How patronising.

I'm instinctively inclined to defend my daughter, my nieces, and my pupils against harmful ideas.

It does feel like a war to me. Same kind of propaganda. Wounds and permanent injuries.

I would like this war to end. What Starmer is saying sounds like appeasement.

If he thinks he can dismiss women's rights and child safeguarding as 'culture wars' hes in for a shock (it also highlights that he either doesn't understand the issues or doesn't care)

Whatever KS says and whatever is written in the manifesto, scrutinise because it will not mean what, on first reading/hearing, you think it says.

Thanks MagpiePi for noting this little nugget

I now find myself at work using the terms male and female rather than men or women to avoid falling into some bear trap.

It's a confusing statement. On one hand I get the impression he doesn't want to promote 'culture war' issues anymore. Maybe there won't be a commitment to make GRA process easier, therefore he can say from day one it will cease being an issue.

The bring people together sounds as if both sides will have to cope with the current situation and not expect any law change. Unless he is planning to buddy up every terf with a TRA?

But “That’s why I’ve said that politics needs to tread more lightly on people’s lives.” could mean that either he recognises the trans friendly policies have had a detrimental impact of women and childrens lives, or that women and childrens policies have had a detrimental impact on trans rights? That suggests that the some laws need to be changed?

Exactly. He’ll end the culture war by giving the TWAW brigade what they want and he’ll roll back our rights by about 100 years. It’ll eventually become transphobic to complain or even talk about stuff like having your period. Starmer is a disingenuous, weak man.

Over recent years the current government has picked arguments with various institutions in order to distract the electorate from how badly the effects of their decisions were damaging the country.

Examples, just off the top of my head, include attacking the EU, the BBC - including Gary Lineker and whether Land of Hope and Glory should be sung at the last night of the Proms - threatening to privatise Channel 4, attacking the RNLI, asylum seekers, judges, ‘lefty’ lawyers and junior doctors while protecting statues. Gender neutral toilets/trans issues were just one of the issues where they tried to foment division and arguments to distract.

It sounds to me as if Starmer is saying a Labour government won’t do that. Which seems like a good thing.

If there is a culture war, it's from Labour so I'd prefer it if Starmer wasn't such a toddler blaming the other side* when they say no to absolute nonsense.

*I don't necessarily mean Tories here, just normal people who aren't in thrall to recently graduated advisers who are obsessed with trans and Palestine. Just to look at one example from Changed18's list, given the push for mixed-sex toilets from Labour's side which goes against requirements for safety, privacy, dignity and comfort, who is carrying out the culture war?

Yesterday on World At One , Jose Manuel Barroso was asked why the Social Democrats vote collapsed in Germany. He said they had become distracted by Identity Politics and Genderism. Barroso is himself a Social Democrat. He said they had forgotten their job is to represent the working class.

Later on, on the PM programme on Radio 4, Philippe Lamberts (a Belgian MEP and the Co-Leader of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament) was saying that people in general are looking at the Greens and seeing well off and well educated urban elites who spend their time lecturing the rest of society.