SNP ‘snubs’ trans activists by freezing them out of policy group

[Igneococcus]

In the Times today:
https://www.thetimes.com/article/3aae58f2-2736-4066-a7a9-be868f84aa58?shareToken=62fb949400e920d93cab6562888c08b1

Terrible shame

It's all about how you phrase it.

They gave advice that turned out to be wrong. If someone let you down / cost you money the first time, would you use them a second time? That not what I would call "freezing out"

However, I'm not totally convinced the the claim that "the forum will instead be made up of impartial civil servants". Are they actually impartial? Weren't they the captured ones?

I think giving these lobby groups a seat at the table has given them excessive amounts of influence in the past. Lots of chummy chats and other voices aren’t being heard in the same way.

I really don't understand why they need a working group as the ruling is simple. Men however you identify stay out of women's spaces or get sacked/barred/prosecuted, end of.

I expect this will please many people living in Scotland who have seen or been affected by the malign effects of the influence of these groups.

"We shoveled lots of money to Stonewall, Scottish Trans and the not at all dodgy LGBTYS so they could tell us what to do, and all we got was this SC ruling that cost us a fortune and made us look silly."

I wouldn't say Holyrood is full of great political brains, but there's a difficult election in a year and even the SNP leadership might wise up eventually.

Maggie Chapman seems to have toned it down a bit. She still makes my hackles rise, can't think why!

Er.... they're meeting to write a policy. Not to listen to the endless dramas and rantings of why the law is wrong. How would they get anything done with a room full of activists whose main aim is that the policy shouldn't exist?

And yes, any establishment body that hasn't clicked by now that being led around by the nose by unqualified extremists was a really bad idea is exceptionally stupid.

In fact let's be honest, the main reason activist groups would want to be in that room is to control the policy and make it thwart the law as much as possible. And if you let in TAs you'd have to involve women's GC activists too.

The law is clear. It has to be followed. It's not about listening to arguments any more, no amount of emoting will change it or the job these policy groups have to do. It's about basic compliance with law to avoid accountability.

They should do a protest. 😁

Don't forget the loss of votes and loss of members. I read somewhere recently that the SNP lost 10% of members, mostly women, around the time of Isla Bryson. (Of course some of those may have been due to campervangate.)

Swivel eyed fundamentalists have that effect on me too 😁

Anyone else remember when the lobby group or committee (could have been stonewall) was blindsided by an announcement at Westminster that had been flipped from what they had expected. And Crispin Blunt had to apologise for back door deals?

The SNP arrangement always reminded me of the power that these groups have grabbed.

We are stopping the TAs domination of policy. It took a huge effort with help from their own stupidity.

We can't stop fighting back though. It will take huge effort to tear it all down.

Though their own failings will help always. The SNP doing this is sensible. Meanwhile the alternative always backfires as yet another Scottish Green trans activist politician Eryn Browning is facing allegations of being a predator:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5313420-scottish-greens-being-sexist-again?page=2

We need to repeat the mantra (oops, unfortunate phrase!)

They fool you once, shame on them. They fool you twice, shame on you.

Eventually, it will be necessary to remove extremist transactivists from everything.

While they remain, now that women have woken up to the risks, there will invariably be a split between those who support and those who don’t.

That row obscures everything else so that the group can never actually discuss anything's constructive or reach consensus.

It’ll be the same with all the women’s groups where men have invaded. Until the men are chucked out, the tension they bring will remain.

Let's be honest here.

If they were at the meeting they wouldnt manage to write the policy because all the time would be taken up by them complaining that it wasn't fair.

Unfortunately it doesn't change the nature of the meeting. Which is to rewrite policy because the previous one was unlawful.

They aren't getting it. Their lobbying on this, is irrelevant. The Scottish Government HAVE to change it to reflect the law.

If they want to lobby to change the law, then they need to go through the appropriate channels for that. That's not at the working group that has to write policy to reflect EXISTING law. Otherwise people will be done for breaking that EXISTING law at large expense to the taxpayer.

If they want to lobby, then actually it's not the Scottish government they need to lobby. Because this law in one set in Westminster. They have to try and bully Labour not the SNP.

And this just makes them look like Muppets who don't understand the difference between the law, lobbying and politics. They are incredibly stupid and wasting all their own time and energy where anything they do is only going to serve to count against them for this reason. It just makes them look like bullies trying to intimidate politicians.