Rishi Sunak said…

True

Exactly

Labour are proving they’re terrible already

Likewise. It doesn't matter how strongly I feel on this issue, I could never vote for the party that has destroyed the public services that those of us who are not wealthy, desperately need.

I am genuinely fearful now. About my own health, my grandchildrens education (especially where there's a special need involved) and for my old age.

This is just a statement made to win votes. As simple as that. And you'll all sell us down the river because he's said what you want to hear, whether he believes or cares, or not.
Single issue voting at its most destructive.

No one is talking about it according to Starmer

Yes it is important because of its tentacles reaching into all areas of life including the NHS, Education, Social Work and employment. It has had a chilling Orwellian effect on free speech, especially with all the 'cancel culture' in the arts and literature.
Time for a weekly session of 'critical thinking' in schools.
What would have happened if JKR had not spoken out? She only did because she was rich enough to weather the storm.

Does anyone object to what Sunak said in this statement? Let's leave aside for now whether or not he means it because we can throw that at any politician. Do you object to any of his actual words?

If yes, can you say which words and why?

If not then why can't Starmer say the same thing?

Exactly.

It's rubbish to be politically homeless due to parties inability to agree with basic facts like what is a woman.

I really don't feel I could ever vote Tory, but with Labour a shitshow and Lib Dems worse, what's left? Don't even mention the Greens wtf happened there, not in favour of independence even if the SNP weren't an even bigger shit show.

It's almost too late now to realise they were all hoodwinked and try to back pedal. There's so much to undo that's become accepted by the back door.

Sunak is only smart enough to see that he can show up Starmer.

Something that Starmer could have done the reverse of easily a few years back, instead of perching on the device fence struggling to answer questions about the cervix. 🙄

Deeds not words Rishi. Good to see this but you’ve been in power since 2010. This whole shit show has happened entirely on your watch. A whole generation of kids exposed to sexist, homophobic, misogynistic anti-scientific, anti-reality shit and the unlucky ones of those kids being permanently medically and surgically harmed.
And five minutes ago the Theresa May and early Johnson government was bringing forward self ID for the whole of the UK because #nodebate and most marginalised and #be kind. Despite women protesting and writing to their MPs for YEARS before this.

I can’t vote for a Tory party that fucks up the NHS, schools and public services to this extent especially for kids with SEN and adults with disabilities and which radically increases child and family poverty as the Tories consistently have done. I’m glad he’s said it, but I’ll use this to put pressure on the Labour Party.

This. Starmer could so easily do this - I think he actaully believes gender ideology and that's why he won't properly commit to women's rights. And why he will never back Rosie Duffield. That's why I don't trust him.

Last week Mr Sunak said he wanted to rewrite the Equality Act to make it easier for venues to bar trans people from women-only spaces such as changing rooms and lavatories..

He's not going high level with the quite obvious no rapists in women's prisons, and let's look at sport. If he's talking about toilets, he's unequivocal.

This is what, personally, I've been waiting to hear. I'm assuming he means changing the word sex to mean biological sex in the equality act. He has halted the tide. And yes, I expect him to do more. He's doing it incrementally it's true, but he is doing it.

There wouldn't be much point setting that massively specific cat amongst the pigeons, if he wasn't intending to follow it through.

But, he's a politician, and they're all duplicitous.

But the point is, whatever party you support, this should make the opposition understand that it's a significant point in the run-up to the election.

If Keir can't tell that this is now a subject that requires addressing, he's not reading the room. Again.

If he doubles down, it's not just that it's bad for women, it means his powers of comprehension are woeful, or, he is totally captured from inside the party.

I have no doubt the likes of Kemi and Suella have been chipping away inside the tories to get to the point where Sunak actually does something. but it's working.

I've been rather shocked over the vocal determination to erase women, demonstrated by the Labour Party. We are rights hoarding dinosaurs, gender critical women need to be expelled from the party, some women have penises.

We all know that the end result of this ideology is catastrophic for women and girls. It's basically a rapists' charter. And children at primary school must be indoctrinated into accepting it.

So, for me, there are two issues. Firstly the protection of women and girls, but secondly, not fucking understanding what's going on.

Keir can't claim ignorance of the latter, now.

So let's see him step up if he truly does care about the former.

He's got everything to play for.

Deeds not words Rishi. Good to see this but you’ve been in power since 2010.
Amazingly though Sunak did not even become an MP (let alone PM) until 2015!

Sara, I suspect some of this actually boils down not just to what they said, but do you believe them.I believe this is important to Sunak, I don’t think it’s just a statement to win votes. Plus, unlike Boris, he has the concentration span to understand the implications & hopefully work out what to do about it. Meanwhile there’s a Twitter thread of GI statements by Starmer and the shadow cabinet, and even now Starmer’s saying 99.9% of women don’t have a penis. It’s difficult to have any faith that Starmer see’s (or is it cares about?) the implications for women’s rights & child safeguarding.

As I posted earlier, and other pp’s have added to, the implications of a GI government for education/nhs/social care/free speech etc are terrifying not something I can vote for

And this is a good point.

Most people assume his politicking.

What if he isn't?

The Tory party have been in power since 2010.. initially in coalition..

And the Labour party has been in power in Wales for 22 years. Look how well that's gone for us in devolved matters like education and health.

This all assumes that you think that Labour are going to make a significant difference to the issues above.

He reminds me of a LIB -Dem in many ways. No passion, and a kind of dry, detached theoretical perspective .

I fear this here and the gender ID issue

Oh, Labour (and Plaid Cymru) want self ID, they've said so.

Fortunately they don't have the power to legislate on this matter - yet.

I should clarify - in Wales.

I don’t think Keir is politicking or scared of his members , I think he is genuinely believes in gender ideology and that people can change sex ( I don’t think he literally believes it, I think he believes that it should be legal to do so and if there are implications for females then that is a small price for females to pay)
and so I absolutely do not trust him.
He would never have stood up to Scotland on this issue and we’d have self ID here by the back door. That may still be his thinking now if Labour do well in Scotland.

luckily I also think labour will not win the next election. And he is absolutely mistaken if he thinks people aren’t talking about it. Just this week I have spoken to a sibling, a niece, an aunt, a mother in law, a friend - all completely different conversations and all completely aware. ( all female too)

Great, we know his views but now we need actions. Until the legal definition is changed I'm not voting. I then want concrete procedures on prisons, sports and schools.

To be fair I wouldn't vote for Labour anyway.

I've found this thread and similar ones useful when posters of all persuasions lay out their arguments. It makes me challenge my own thinking and, hopefully, make an informed decision in the ballot box. What I don't like are the posts that presume to tell me how I must vote. I immediately scroll down to the next post.

@JanesLittleGirl yes me too. I still don’t think I’ll vote so far but who knows!

Evidently some Tories were captured under Cameron and May but free speech was still mainly allowed unlike in the Labour/LibDens/Green who call for your expulsion if you do not believe TWAW.
Liz Truss and Boris decided not to implement self-id (which had gone under the radar in the GE campaign), Boris spoke out against TW in Women's sport. Sunak merely said he agreed with Boris.
The Health Dept ordered the Cass Review following on from Keira Bell's case - they have announced that the Tavistock is closing.
Truss was the first to speak out against Stonewall in the civil service doing the D&I training.
Sunak has now agreed to look at the genderwoo in schools but Keegan seems a poor choice of Education Secretary. Miriam Cates would be better.
They stopped the Scottish GRR quite rightly but I was worried they wouldn't, so full marks there.
There have been several initiatives to try to improve free speech in universities (but nothing concluded yet).

Perhaps the civil servants have too much power - Priti Patel was saying 'these are not women's crimes' under Johnson and yet the police were still doing Stonewall TWAW crime stats.

Legal cases brought by women (and men) seems to be what has caused the Government to have to act in accordance with the existing Equality law which was misrepresented wilfully by Stonewall and Starmer until no one really knew what it really meant anymore - legislation passed by Labour in 2004 and 2010.

The Tories have been asleep at the wheel with some endorsing nonsense (Crispin Blunt standing down because of inappropriate comment in support of a pedophile) but voting Conservative is currently the only way this is going to continue to be rolled back.
Free speech really does matter when what Orwell predicted is gradually becoming true:
'The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.'