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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Hobbycraft employee badge - no terfs, no Tories

449 replies

ItsCoolForCats · 27/10/2025 18:36

Another example of why bringing your whole self to work is a terrible idea.

Hobbycraft seems to be busy trying to mitigate the fallout, presumably because they know which demographic spends the most money there.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/5359520/dundee-hobbycraft-trans-row/

EXCLUSIVE: Perthshire designer 'ordered to leave' Dundee Hobbycraft shop after transgender rights badge row

Crieff woman Rebekah Chapman claims she was subjected to "intolerance and nasty slogans" after complaining about a staff member's "no terfs, no Tories" badge.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/5359520/dundee-hobbycraft-trans-row/

OP posts:
Thread gallery
17
AstonScrapingsNameChange · 29/10/2025 11:31

Swiftasthewind · 29/10/2025 10:14

Could you not argue that ‘No Tories’ isn’t actually political but a statement of support for the disenfranchised of society? It would be like saying you are pro LGBTQIA+, that isn’t political it is just an affirmation of support for people in that community.

You could argue that.

But you'd be totally wrong.

Given that 'the Tories' are a political party +/- their supporters, saying a statement about them 'isn't political' is nonsense.

That's before we get on to 'supporting the disenfranchised' - which again, is political. Its literally about running the country. 'The business of the city'.

But even if we were to agree (and we don't) that the badge isn't political, it IS unprofessional and discriminatory.

ruethewhirl · 29/10/2025 11:38

MarvellousMonsters · 28/10/2025 10:14

I’m guessing that you weren’t negatively impacted by the Tory govt over the last 14 years, only someone privileged enough to not be affected by their cuts and fuckery would say this.

This.

SionnachRuadh · 29/10/2025 11:43

The funny thing is that I know "Comrade Delta". He's not a mate or anything, but I've encountered him quite a few times over the years.

Any claim that he's just pretending to be left wing for nefarious purposes is completely wide of the mark. He's absolutely sincere about his politics and has a moral character similar to a downmarket version of Prince Andrew.

And he may have disappeared from public view in 2013, but he's still got considerable influence behind the scenes.

ArabellaSaurus · 29/10/2025 11:46

Could you not argue that ‘No Tories’ isn’t actually political

Fuck me.

Greyskybluesky · 29/10/2025 11:49

ArabellaSaurus · 29/10/2025 11:46

Could you not argue that ‘No Tories’ isn’t actually political

Fuck me.

It's astonishing

Kucinghitam · 29/10/2025 11:51

Greyskybluesky · 29/10/2025 11:49

It's astonishing

But not childishly simplistic, oh definitely not that.

hihelenhi · 29/10/2025 11:51

ruethewhirl · 29/10/2025 11:38

This.

I can have been affected by AND disagree with the Tory cuts over the years and STILL think that lazy black & white thinking about "left good, Tories bad" and employees in customer-facing roles wearing "No Tories" badges is immature performative tribalism that will achieve next to nothing in the real world, and in fact I entirely blame the sort of people who doggedly seem to imagine it does (against all the evidence) for handing the next election to the likes of Reform.

Still waiting to hear how they're planning to persuade those people to vote how they'd like them to. Just more ineffectual name-calling, self-righteousness and purity policing, yeah?

Also entirely unsurprised that this person appears to have grown up around fellow lefties only, so seems unlikely to have mingled much outside that circle or with anyone with supposedly 'impure' views. It shows in the complete lack of awareness.

Greyskybluesky · 29/10/2025 11:56

@hihelenhi nailed it

Swiftasthewind · 29/10/2025 12:04

hihelenhi · 29/10/2025 11:51

I can have been affected by AND disagree with the Tory cuts over the years and STILL think that lazy black & white thinking about "left good, Tories bad" and employees in customer-facing roles wearing "No Tories" badges is immature performative tribalism that will achieve next to nothing in the real world, and in fact I entirely blame the sort of people who doggedly seem to imagine it does (against all the evidence) for handing the next election to the likes of Reform.

Still waiting to hear how they're planning to persuade those people to vote how they'd like them to. Just more ineffectual name-calling, self-righteousness and purity policing, yeah?

Also entirely unsurprised that this person appears to have grown up around fellow lefties only, so seems unlikely to have mingled much outside that circle or with anyone with supposedly 'impure' views. It shows in the complete lack of awareness.

Edited

The type of people likely to vote Tory and Reform aren’t the type to sit down and listen to reason, so it really is redundant. We’ve tried discourse, they just called us ‘do gooders’ and mocked our empathy, so we responded in kind.

That said, shame is a powerful tool. Rules for Radicals explicitly mentions how peer pressure and fear of stepping outside the established paradigm is enough to keep most people in line. If you tell people they are bad or evil for voting far right, so long as they have an investment in polite society, you can convince them to vote for the acceptable parties. Whether that changes their actual opinions, who knows, but that’s not what matters in politics.

ArabellaSaurus · 29/10/2025 12:07

If you're going for satire, try to make it funny.

CassOle · 29/10/2025 12:07

Who decides who the 'Right Parties' are?

ruethewhirl · 29/10/2025 12:10

hihelenhi · 29/10/2025 11:51

I can have been affected by AND disagree with the Tory cuts over the years and STILL think that lazy black & white thinking about "left good, Tories bad" and employees in customer-facing roles wearing "No Tories" badges is immature performative tribalism that will achieve next to nothing in the real world, and in fact I entirely blame the sort of people who doggedly seem to imagine it does (against all the evidence) for handing the next election to the likes of Reform.

Still waiting to hear how they're planning to persuade those people to vote how they'd like them to. Just more ineffectual name-calling, self-righteousness and purity policing, yeah?

Also entirely unsurprised that this person appears to have grown up around fellow lefties only, so seems unlikely to have mingled much outside that circle or with anyone with supposedly 'impure' views. It shows in the complete lack of awareness.

Edited

Thing is, sometimes what you describe as lazy black & white thinking develops as a result of having one's life absolutely wrecked by a particular government or ideology to the point where it becomes more or less impossible not to have a knee-jerk reaction to it. I'm not saying it's particularly useful or constructive, but it happens. (Not defending the Hobbycraft guy's actions here, btw, I'm commenting on what might drive posters to post on this topic in a particular way.)

CassOle · 29/10/2025 12:12

'Shame, peer-pressure, fear.'

Maybe, if those don't work, you could send dissenters off somewhere. You could give them a name... like 'Gulags'.

The more I read Swift's posts, the more I remember 'live not by lies'.

https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/live-not-by-lies

Silverbirchleaf · 29/10/2025 12:17

Swiftasthewind · 29/10/2025 10:04

If the badge didn’t feature the bit about Terfs and was strictly about the Tories I don’t think for one second that anybody on this forum would have had a problem with it.

What is it about being GC that means nobody is allowed to criticise you?

I disagree totally. Regardless of whether the badge said no Tories, Labour or badgers, it still shouldn’t be worn.

38thparallel · 29/10/2025 12:18

nicepotoftea · Today 10:38
I suppose if 'left wing' = nice, the Chinese government must be the nicest people in the world

Yes - or Stalin.
@Swiftasthewind do you think the left wing Soviet Union was a good regime?

Silverbirchleaf · 29/10/2025 12:20

CassOle · 29/10/2025 12:07

Who decides who the 'Right Parties' are?

In the UK, the people. Ie a democracy.

hihelenhi · 29/10/2025 12:20

Swiftasthewind · 29/10/2025 12:04

The type of people likely to vote Tory and Reform aren’t the type to sit down and listen to reason, so it really is redundant. We’ve tried discourse, they just called us ‘do gooders’ and mocked our empathy, so we responded in kind.

That said, shame is a powerful tool. Rules for Radicals explicitly mentions how peer pressure and fear of stepping outside the established paradigm is enough to keep most people in line. If you tell people they are bad or evil for voting far right, so long as they have an investment in polite society, you can convince them to vote for the acceptable parties. Whether that changes their actual opinions, who knows, but that’s not what matters in politics.

Edited

Since I very much doubt you would deem talking to anyone who is the type of person likely to vote for Tory and Reform beneath you, I can tell you that this is one of the main reasons such individuals think people like you are such idiots who, they would also say "are incapable of listening to reason". You are proving yourself to be so here. So you don't actually have an argument or a strategy, do you?

Shame is NOT an effective tool. Which is why, time and time again, your current iteration of the left either keeps losing elections, proves hugely unpopular or engenders massive on-the-ground rebellions if it does. Your "views" displays a total lack of self-awareness on your part, and no desire whatsoever to resolve the issues. Just childish authoritarianism and an assumption of moral and intellectual superiority which I'm afraid you are singularly failing to demonstrate has any validity whatsoever. No wonder they are laughing at you.

As for people like me, we are fucking furious that you have wasted a good decade or more on this ineffectual bullshit when you could have used all that time to actually effectively engage with members of the public who felt (rightly or wrongly) that they were largely being overridden, not having their concerns listened to, being patronised and insulted by finger-waggers like yourself while Reform were just being handed your failings on a plate. You haven't shown "left wing" principles at all, at least not as far as the long history of the labour movement and its precursurs- you're just the middle class establishment sneering at the working classes, all over again and you STILL haven't realised that you are.

I despair. It's pathetic. What a waste of time.

nicepotoftea · 29/10/2025 12:25

Swiftasthewind · 29/10/2025 12:04

The type of people likely to vote Tory and Reform aren’t the type to sit down and listen to reason, so it really is redundant. We’ve tried discourse, they just called us ‘do gooders’ and mocked our empathy, so we responded in kind.

That said, shame is a powerful tool. Rules for Radicals explicitly mentions how peer pressure and fear of stepping outside the established paradigm is enough to keep most people in line. If you tell people they are bad or evil for voting far right, so long as they have an investment in polite society, you can convince them to vote for the acceptable parties. Whether that changes their actual opinions, who knows, but that’s not what matters in politics.

Edited

If you tell people they are bad or evil for voting far right, so long as they have an investment in polite society, you can convince them to vote for the acceptable parties.

So how is that working for you?

SionnachRuadh · 29/10/2025 12:26

Swiftasthewind · 29/10/2025 12:04

The type of people likely to vote Tory and Reform aren’t the type to sit down and listen to reason, so it really is redundant. We’ve tried discourse, they just called us ‘do gooders’ and mocked our empathy, so we responded in kind.

That said, shame is a powerful tool. Rules for Radicals explicitly mentions how peer pressure and fear of stepping outside the established paradigm is enough to keep most people in line. If you tell people they are bad or evil for voting far right, so long as they have an investment in polite society, you can convince them to vote for the acceptable parties. Whether that changes their actual opinions, who knows, but that’s not what matters in politics.

Edited

Hi Swift

The type of people likely to vote Tory and Reform aren’t the type to sit down and listen to reason, so it really is redundant. We’ve tried discourse, they just called us ‘do gooders’ and mocked our empathy, so we responded in kind.

Since you're making broad sweeping statements about "the type of people" who hold this or that opinion, perhaps you would like to look at my post on the type of people I've encountered in the world of left wing activism.

What say you?

Winterwonders24 · 29/10/2025 12:26

Swiftasthewind · 29/10/2025 12:04

The type of people likely to vote Tory and Reform aren’t the type to sit down and listen to reason, so it really is redundant. We’ve tried discourse, they just called us ‘do gooders’ and mocked our empathy, so we responded in kind.

That said, shame is a powerful tool. Rules for Radicals explicitly mentions how peer pressure and fear of stepping outside the established paradigm is enough to keep most people in line. If you tell people they are bad or evil for voting far right, so long as they have an investment in polite society, you can convince them to vote for the acceptable parties. Whether that changes their actual opinions, who knows, but that’s not what matters in politics.

Edited

And do you ever feel the need to define "far right"? As I don't think you could say Reform are Far Right,and certainly not the Tories

hihelenhi · 29/10/2025 12:27

ruethewhirl · 29/10/2025 12:10

Thing is, sometimes what you describe as lazy black & white thinking develops as a result of having one's life absolutely wrecked by a particular government or ideology to the point where it becomes more or less impossible not to have a knee-jerk reaction to it. I'm not saying it's particularly useful or constructive, but it happens. (Not defending the Hobbycraft guy's actions here, btw, I'm commenting on what might drive posters to post on this topic in a particular way.)

I HIGHLY doubt people brought up by comfortable middle class establishment left wing university professors are those who've "had their lives wrecked" by Tory policies. Many of those who argue for the other side would say exactly the same thing. The common ground? It's almost always class, I'm afraid. So why hasn't the supposed party of the working classes been engaging with on the ground and spends all their time finger wagging and "shaming" them instead?

If you analyse the figures behind the stats for voting intention, they are VERY telling. MOST Labour supporters these days are in the upper and middle classes. MOST Reform voters are in the working classes. Wake the fuck up. The left has largely abandoned its original voting base and has done so for years. It doesn't mean they'll all love Reform or the Tories in the end, but they won't necessarily all be deciding that their interests are served by the current left either.So what's next?

Igneococcus · 29/10/2025 12:28

What's sort of professor is swift's father? I mean in what field?

Greyskybluesky · 29/10/2025 12:30

Igneococcus · 29/10/2025 12:28

What's sort of professor is swift's father? I mean in what field?

Critical race theory and racial activism

Igneococcus · 29/10/2025 12:31

Greyskybluesky · 29/10/2025 12:30

Critical race theory and racial activism

Edited

Of course, should haev guessed.

hihelenhi · 29/10/2025 12:47

SionnachRuadh · 29/10/2025 12:26

Hi Swift

The type of people likely to vote Tory and Reform aren’t the type to sit down and listen to reason, so it really is redundant. We’ve tried discourse, they just called us ‘do gooders’ and mocked our empathy, so we responded in kind.

Since you're making broad sweeping statements about "the type of people" who hold this or that opinion, perhaps you would like to look at my post on the type of people I've encountered in the world of left wing activism.

What say you?

Yes, who is this "type of person"? And on what is this assertion being based? Has Swift ever actually met any of this "type of person" in real life, or are they largely to be avoided due to fear of contamination by their supposedly impure views and/or characters?