Is there an election soon???

[ZeldaFighter]

You're all intelligent women so I'm sure you've already noticed this:

• Tories asleep at the wheel for the last 14 years wrt women's rights and (running the country)
• election strategist decides to copy American politics playbook
• 2 weeks before the election, women's rights are a hot topic and the right wing media can't find enough commentators to discuss the opposition's record of women's rights
• Labour don't have to defend their actions - they aren't in power!!!
• Where is the acknowledgement that the dismantling of women's rights has come about during the Tories' watch?
• The Tories are the Government and they have run the NHS, the schools, the Police and the courts for the last 14 years...

I refuse to be sucked into this culture war b*llshit. I am a progressive, left-leaning feminist (probably 2nd wave which is why I disagree with gender identity ideology) and I will be voting Labour for the good of the country.

Hi Kier.

Ok then.

2 weeks before the election, women's rights are a hot topic

You may have missed it but women have been talking about this for years. It's blown up now because Labour have refused to listen to women.

Labour don't have to defend their actions - they aren't in power!!!

They do have to defend and explain their position if they want to be in power.

Aw, I'm sad you disagree, TinselAngel, as I really respect and admire all the work you've done.

I'm just worried that women are only being listened to and our concerns voiced in order to sabotage Labour's electoral chances. I feel like nothing has been said since Lia Thomas peaked me....right until Labour might be about to win power! It seems such an obvious electoral tactic.

I don't think thats true though. Labour have consistently put the safety of women and children at the bottom of their list and instead prioritised a small group of people. The tories actually haven't and took hold of this some time ago. It certainly isn't just since an election was announced.
I don't feel I can trust Labour on this now after everything they've said and how firmly they've stuck to their gender views and failed to support anyone in their party daring to challenge them.

There seems to be a rush recently of women who are disappointed that I don't agree with them because they admire my work. Maybe if women admire me that much they should question if I'm right and they're wrong.

Tinsel, there's also a rush of women who might have been thinking about voting Labour but after reading about their policy on the spousal exit clause, have made up their minds to not.

Women's rights have never not been a "hot topic" for some of us, it seems a bit crass to be late to the party and complain about what's been done and is being done.

Very true.

If Labour want women's votes, they need to clarify what they are offering women, not what the Conservatives have or haven't done.

Especially as I always prefer to vote For, rather than vote Against.

Be good actually if Keir Starmer agreed to do a MN webchat. Rishi Sunak's doing one so perhaps Keir might like to do the same.

On a more personal note. I always like to consider my vote on a local constituency level as well as national party level. I'm in a apparent marginal seat (usually safe Conservative but might go to Labour).

Despite being a marginal, so far only the Conservative candidate has put a leaflet through the door. None of the other parties have bothered.

That's obviously not going to be the deciding factor in my vote, but I do feel if a candidate wants votes they should at least send out a leaflet.

Labour Party women have consistently told us for years that they have this all in hand and that Labour absolutely are on the side of women and won't be giving our rights away, that they've done backroom deals and have support among the party representatives, and then we read the manifesto and realise it was all gaslighting.

Of course we are annoyed.

How have we got to a point when the most feminist-leaning and most safeguarding-informed manifesto promises come from the Conservative Party. How the fuck has that happened?

Of course it's being talked about.

I just think getting excited is silly. They're all terrible (yes including current Labour offering). Vote for your best candidate locally I reckon.

Very true.

With all due respect, if Lia Thomas peaked you you are fairly new to this all and there are women here much more informed for much longer.

Rather than the Tories having enabled Trans Ideology, I personally see it as more of a generational issue - in that it was the product, and end result, of post modernistic theories come of age. Regardless of the colour of national government it has taken hold everywhere.

Thankfully, though, it has now been apprehended and some measures taken to halt its steady march. Lots of hard work left to do, though, as the incoming government is not going to do anything to further curb its progress, and is, in fact, look set to further embed it.

The good news, I think, is that Labour are on the back foot now - always having to respond to, and be answerable for, their decisions and evasions; and their timing is awful. Starmer said he was going to "learn from what happened" with the Scottish GRA, but he hasn't shown any signs of learning anything at all. He is set to act in the face of mounting evidence that he should not.

The unraveling of this construct will continue apace and in fact will likely accelerate because its days are numbered - and it will not be so easy to put resistance down to " culture wars" as Labour will be the party in government.
I predict a very quick succession of the inevitable as policies and their consequences come more forcefully into focus.

I'm sick to the tits of the term 'culture war'.

If there is one, it's because politicians and organisations allowed themselves to be so captured by activists that they abandoned sense and logic, and then tried to bully and intimidate women into shutting up.

And suddenly it's a war when we object? Fuck that shit.

And fuck Labour, too. I don't want a leader who throws his own MP to the wolves for telling the truth, and then agrees with a man saying the same bloody thing.

He's got a few days left to put it right, and I don't see them being used wisely right now.

If Labour lose this election (which is extremely unlikely) because of their capitulation to tras. That's on them not us.

I do appreciate that and I am grateful for everything women here and elsewhere have done to bring the issues to the public, despite overwhelming odds and opposition.

I remember Tony Blair. I remember the hope, the SureStart centres, the drop in child poverty, the way things seemed much better....I just want that again!

Can't and won't speak for other women but you have given me pause for thought!

The Labour Party are committed to abiding by the recommendations of the Cass Review (commissioned by the Tories) and have confirmed that they won't lift the block on the Scottish government's gender reforms, a block delivered by the Tories. I agree that lots of the crap has happened under the Tories, but these are two concrete examples of how they did at least, late in the day, out some brakes on. If these two things hadn't happened we would be in an even worse state. Kier's "I can only understand biology if a man tells me about it" approach tells me all I need to know. They can all fuck off as far as I'm concerned

@ZeldaFighter on many issues the Tories have not done a good job. Understatement. On the genderwoo stuff they realized there is good reason to slam on the brakes whereas other parties (including Labour) appear to be still wanting to accelerate. Its taken a lot of time for me to realise just how much DEI inititatives fostering pro TQ+ approaches have damaged the civil service, journalism and the police. This seems to have been targeted activity with long term and quite scary aims. Some parties (Labour included) don't agree that this is the case. Some of the unions have been awful. Will Labour politicians stand against them?

The CASS report has only recently come out but was set in train by this government in 2020. Section 35 was brought in play to stop the Scottish plans for opening up self-ID from 16+ (this was in 2023). I know its taken a lot of pushing to get the current government to listen and learn about what is going on, but there are signs they are listening. Far fewer signs from Labour or Lib Dem and very few signs from the Greens.

Its been going on a while (more than a few weeks or months) but this is the point at which parties choose what to say in their manifestos to differentiate from other parties. Not too surprising that there is an emphasis in right wing politics and right wing press on this topic. Its something that the Tories are right about. Not too surprising that there has been very little about this (or suggestions that its not contentious) in the left wing press.

I look at other countries which are in a much worse pickle than we are. Anyone prefer the approaches to women's rights in Australia or Canada? It feels like there is a correlation between left wing governments and pushing for acceptance of gender ideology. I am bracing myself for unpleasant changes with this new government and hope that they will be as open to slamming the brakes on as the Tories have been of late.

I fear you'll be disappointed.

All of this.

Labour are not entitled to or deserve my vote any more than another party. They have to work for it.

To my mind, what Tony Blair did was mainstream and democratise materialistic values; and yes, that did result in a more material levelling up......but it also solidified Thatcherite economics. I remember the Blair government being target obsessed - everything became about measuring, league tables and targets.

I'm getting deja vu.