Per appointment hearing for new chair of EHRC. This afternoon

[impossibletoday]

If anyone wants to listen/watch

https://x.com/CommonsWEC/status/1939616377750401117?t=MLdkge4QWLoyBv6F2SOSA&s=19

Screenshot

Starts at 2.20 pm.

Pre appointment, not per!!!

Thanks that's my afternoon sorted.

Ha!!!! was looking up her background and came across a Reddit thread the TRA’s are most unhappy, which is reassuring.

Going live now

Parliamentlive.tv - Women and Equalities Committee and Human Rights (Joint Committee)

Almost thought it was a Woman On The Edge Of Time Reference 😀

Just starting!

I see that the Transgender UK subreddit is very happy about the level of responses to the EHRC consultation.

"The EHRC have received over 50,000 responses (complete and partial) to the 6-week public consultation on the new code of practice following the Supreme Court ruling. They absolutely never expected to get this many, and huge well done to everybody who submitted."
^https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/media-centre/news/consultation-updates-services-code-practice-closes^
For comparison, the 12 week public consultation that the EHRC ran on their three-year strategic plan received just over 2000 responses. This is 25 times as many in half the time.
And there are still two more weeks for people to submit in Welsh."

Helena Kennedy trying to trip her up on the characteristic of 'gender re-assignment, very clearly...suggesting she lacks experience and knowledge.

Sorry, terribly sized image!

Blimey what a job interview, what a job

"Are you willing to be harassed by all sides, take all the blame and shield ungrateful Members of Parliament from awkward questions ?"

The hostility from Helena Kennedy was palpable.

Each member of the panel clearly has a personal campaign which is very important to them, and which is driving their questioning of the candidate.
She's holding up well, but does sound a little shaky......I don't blame her.

Here we go, Sarah Owen....itching to bring up 'transphobia'. Failed to mention anti semitism, of course.

Sarah Owen managed fairly well to contain her ususal contempt. The very conscious omision of 'trans rights' in her questioning must have been hard for her.....

What a disappointment she is

Good answer - yes it was performative not embedded.

I wonder whether 50,000 responses of emotive shouting will successfully induce the EHRC to advise the ignoring and breaking of the law and others' EDI legal protections?

I've been on the other side of those consultations. If you say to your boss "we've got 180 responses and 175 of them are identically worded", that will be noted. TRAs seem to think responding to a consultation is like voting for Big Brother.

Some of the questions from the panel reveal that a response to a question can only be as good in quality as the question itself. Lots of panellists trying to make rather hidden, guarded points.

I want to say, I know Lord Alton will not be to everyone's taste in these parts, but he's giving Sarah Owen a useful lesson in how to chair a committee.

Wow “If you get in”. This is a formidable interview process and part way through it to say something like that is awful, trying to destabilise a candidate.

These hearings are always nerve wracking for the candidate, but at least they're restrained by an agreed format. The committee is supposed to determine a few things:

• Was the recruitment process run properly
• Does the candidate meet a base level of competence
• The candidate will be asked her view of the body's challenges and to give some thoughts on how she would tackle those challenges

It gives a bit less leeway for MPs to speechify about their pet topics.

I used to love her. I even wrote to her c/o her chambers to tell her how much I admired her.

And, now, she behaves like this; like a common or garden TRA.
It’s bloody heartbreaking.