Burnham - does he know what a woman is?

[Dragonasaurus]

Just that really - we’ve had Starmer prevaricating, fence sitting, “most women don’t have a penis” in fact women don’t have a penis’ but somehow I’m going to let Phillipson sit on the guidance which would ensure women’s single sex spaces (some of them anyway)…..

Would Burnham be any better? Does anyone know what his position is?

Yep.

Ambitious politician. That's the beginning and end of it.

Streeting is the only policitian (as far as I know) who has apologised to women over trans issues. I think he genuinely looked into the issue and realised what was happening. I'm hoping he'll be influential on Burnham on this. He's cleverer than Burnham - posters above are correct that he's biding his time. He knows that the TWAW stance is not a vote winner with the general public.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/28/wes-streeting-apologises-to-labour-mp-rosie-duffield-who-felt-ostracised-due-to-gender-views

There's the puberty blocker trial set to go ahead, although I understand Kemi may be trying to block it (forgive the pun).

I was hoping that Streeting might do something about it, but that seems to be a forlorn hope now. Labour, the country, and we might be able to wait for Burnham to screw up and Streeting to step in at some point. Those children cannot wait.

Yes, especially if he gets to be Chancellor under a Burnham leadership. Shabana Mahmood has time on her side too.

Someone needs to stand up and make some sort of contest out of this.
Al Carns?

I've copied this across from the Politics thread.

It would appear that this think tank is endorsing all things Burnham.
https://www.compassonline.org.uk

Led by Neal Lawson and Caroline Lucas.
Its aim being a progressive coalition.

Lawson was involved in getting Polanski in.

Lawson has also set this up
https:/www.mainstreamlabour.org/founding-statement

From the Compass site
"Hear from the the widest range of voices in the progressive movement - from international thinkers like Yanis Varoufakis and George Monbiot, to politicians like Dawn Butler, Caroline Lucas,Lisa Nandy and Andy Burnham, to organisers working on the ground in Preston and Cumbria."

From the little I've seen, it's not good - Novaro media on board and Tatchell is a hero of Lawson's.

From the little I've seen, it's not good - Novaro media on board and Tatchell is a hero of Lawson's.

Isn't that a bit, arbitrarily dividing people up into black-hats and white-hats?

Tatchell is a hero of Lawson's.

Good grief. What IS it about the Labour Party men and their fascination with men er... stretching the boundaries of sexual appropriacy and legality shall we say? One of the key reasons Starmer's out and Streeting's not likely to be PM is their involvement with Mandelson and Epstein, long after they knew the facts.

You'd think that they'd be aware that current issues of large numbers of the party being openly against women and gay rights, since they present boundaries to male freedoms, and not wanting children to be safeguarded from medical experimentation, (today's debate) could be seen as rather unfortunately connected in terms of Labour values.

😱

😱

Compass is a home for those who want to build and be a part of a Good Society; one where equality, sustainability and democracy are not mere aspirations, but a living reality.

Jesus, they are capitalising Good Society. That freaks the fuck right out of me.

So the only possible runner against Burnham at this point is Al Carns. I saw reports yesterday that Burnham's team was grumbling about only having a few weeks to get up to speed! CFs.

"Good Society" = what we say is good, and if you don't agree, you need re-educating

Who the hell is Al Carns (she says sarcastically)? This is going to be a coronation and a catastrophe. Welcome back to Labour. Again.

FFS. Do I have to start a thread on Compass now? I do actually have to do some work from time to time!

(seriously, is Compass on anyone's radar at the moment re women's rights?)

Worrying.

SEEN in Journalism

10h
As treesey remembered and pointed out - the man who recommended allyship through pronouns at the BBC. James Purnell is the reason for the TQ+ flags in signatures and she/hers in bios.
Quote
Steven Swinford

EXCLUSIVE:

Andy Burnham is expected to appoint a former Blairite cabinet minister who is one of his oldest political allies as his chief of staff James Purnell.

Fuck me that sounds awful.

For the men. Not for you.

T-shirt worthy.

https://www.compassonline.org.uk/about/governancefinance/board-members/
Compass Board Members

Neal Lawson

I’ve been the chief strategist, speaker and fundraiser for Compass for 15 years. We have done okay, but we now need to do much, so much better. Compass now needs to be a sustainable and powerful organisation in its own right – beyond any particular individual. [my bold]
Due for reappointment November 2028.

Ruth Lister, Labour Peer
Due for reappointment November 2028

Mark Cooke
He has been Treasurer and a member of the governing body of Compass since it began, developing its systems as it has grown, and working to keep it solvent. He is also Treasurer of the Child Poverty Action Group and of the Harington Scheme, a local charity providing education and training for young people with learning differences, as well as his local Labour Party branch.
Due for reappointment November 2028

Shelagh Wright
I’m a committed internationalist working with networks all over the world to develop the capacity and connectivity of creative and cultural activists to change systems at the individual, local, community or city level.
There’s a need to radically democratise and feminise political space as key to transformation by bringing ‘other’ voices into the debate; etc.
Due for reappointment November 2026.

Barry Knight
Barry Knight is a social scientist and statistician who, over a long career, has worked in many fields both in the UK and internationally....Frustrated by the limited potential for social change offered by mainstream institutions, Barry and others formed CENTRIS, which seeks solutions to old problems in new ways.
Over the past 20 years, CENTRIS has worked closely with more than 50 different funders and development agencies.
Due for reappointment November 2026.

Sarri Bater
Sarri has spent nearly 30 years as a scholar-practitioner in Conflict Transformation....Sarri specialises in ‘identity and difference’ conflict and is increasingly in demand to lead work on Systemic Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Decolonising, in institutions, organisations, communities and movements, including local government bodies, philanthropists, activists, and change leaders.
Due for reappointment November 2028.

Jon Cruddas
Jon Cruddas was the Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of Dagenham and Rainham from May 2001 until July 2024.
Due for reappointment November 2026.

John Jackson

John Jackson is a strategy consultant with twenty years experience of developing and running major international campaigns....John has been a strategy consultant since 2014, providing campaigns and communications support to public and voluntary sector organisations. His clients have included Amnesty, Shelter, WWF, the GLA, City Bridge Foundation and Global Witness.
Due for reappointment November 2028.

Pablo John
Pablo is Head of External Affairs for a green energy trade body where he specalises in heat networks, heat decarbonisation and demand-side energy. He works to deliver an energy system that is decarbonised, consumer led and decentralised. Before then he had worked in various policy roles across renewable energy, air quality and clean technology. He had also worked for Alex Sobel MP.
Due for reappointment November 2028.

Jon Yeung
Jon is an experienced Non Executive Director and Board adviser in the corporate and not for profit sectors. In his business career Jon qualified as a Chartered Accountant and subsequently held leadership positions in Life Sciences and Professional Services based in the UK and the US. As a member of Compass Jon has worked on a number of campaigns and publications, including the 2024 General Election and the New Settlement paper.
Due for reappointment November 2028.

I'll leave this here for now, as Compass seems now to be linked to Burnham, but if the info grows or starts to derail the thread, I'll set up a new Compass thread.

Take this with a pinch of salt, if you like, but this piece is suggesting that chancellor, home secretary, foreign secretary and defence, are going to be given to women, to balance out that the fact that the Labour Party is going to be led, as always, by a white male:

Lammy is facing the sack as Burnham rewards Lucy Powell - and seeks to boost number of women at top of his team | Daily Mail Online

Burnham will be aware that at some point, he will need to be elected - maybe not in the imminent future but definitely within the next 3 years. I imagine he won't want to have to answer the "do women have a penis?" question during his election campaign. He's seen the damage this can cause. He's taking advice from the left of the party but don't forget, he's an experienced politician who also worked under Gordon Brown's cabinet. He knows he needs to win votes. My guess is he doesn't really care about the issue but will want to avoid it putting it in the spotlight. He'll probably fudge it but is unlikely to campaign to extend trans rights and unlikely to challenge the Supreme Court judgement or change the Equality Act. Maybe that's me being optimistic but I imagine that he's not unaware of the growing distaste for the trans rights movement.

Sari Bater "Scholar-practitioner in conflict transformation"
LMAO!

Anyone rebind us what Lucy Powell shouted when put on the spot about non action on the grooming gangs?
Her response then should bar her from any serious office.
Yet, here we are, she's going to be rewarded with a major office by Burnham.

She called it a far right dogwhistle.