Back, sadly, to the ever-growing silencing of women's voices and ever-worsening removal of women's rights. The smears, the slander, the disgusting treatment of so, so many women.
Here's the latest example. North Shropshire CLP have submitted the following motion for conference:
The motion is extremely mild. It notes the recent case involving Maya Forstater and reminds conference of what the Equality Act says. It also highlights the harassment and abuse so many women in the Labour Party are experiencing.
Guess what? It's been denounced as 'transphobic'
It's been denounced as transphobic here (note all the comments below - if ever something instantly demonstrated the need for this motion, it's right here):
In a mainstream democratic political party, women aren't allowed to discuss anything to do with this, you see.
Women must be intimidated and silenced by zealots, extremists, hate campaigns and, in the way some people are behaving, fascists.
Yes, that's right. Fascists.
Fascists don't allow discussion. Fascists smear anyone who tries to discuss anything. Fascists cannot bear debate on anything at all. Fascists rule by intimidation, bullying, harassment and fear.
There is precisely zero in that motion which is in any way 'transphobic'.
But then, this is a week in which the American Civil Liberties Union edited the timeless comments of a true champion of women and girls; and The Lancet referred to women as 'bodies with vaginas'. 🤮🤮🤮
Bodies. With. Vaginas. That's the kind of thing The Taliban would come out with. That's the kind of thing psychopaths would come out with.
But no no - apparently, 'inclusive language' means the eradication of the word 'women' from anywhere in the public sphere!
Language that reduces women to a body with holes. It's like being back in the Middle Ages.
Motions denounced for the appalling crime of wanting to stop women being abused and harassed and wanting TO UPHOLD THE LAW.
I urge anyone reading this to contact the Labour Party and ensure this motion is not stopped.
What's happening is absolutely revolting. And the complete opposite of either democracy or basic civil society.
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I'm British, English, European... yet as my boss/agent put it the other day, "you're more Uruguayan than British now".
Which is true - even though being British will always be in my blood. And I'll always support the England team.
I'm also a (very) liberal Jew, roughly agnostic about God but certainly believe in *something* (specifically: the power and beauty of the universe), a Norwich City and Heart of Midlothian supporter. When one of them are down, the other are usually up, and vice versa.
But, as has been pointed out to me plenty of times before, I'm much more of a football fan than a club fan. Country means much more than either club to me; and I just don't do tribalism. Never have, never will.
"He has abandoned the platform on which he was elected Labour leader, sidelined much of the broad team that got him elected, reached for the Blairite playbook and resuscitated Blair’s old crew of Peter Mandelson as his consigliere..."
"combined with an appetite for internal factional purges that makes the Kinnock era look tame.
We are witnessing something akin to the performance of a Blairite tribute band with the same old stunts and strategies being rolled out on schedule but with a great deal more venom..."
What's one of the first, abiding rules in life? Everything in moderation; nothing in excess.
It applies with diet. It applies with fitness. It applies with fun, leisure and work. It applies in politics (though certainly not with self-described 'moderates' who are anything but).
And the reason it applies in politics - well, good politics, at least - is because good politics, progress, consensus and consent are based on REASON. On evidence. On facts. On serious, sensible discussion and on the facts guiding decisions and policy.
What's gone so wildly wrong in the US and UK and elsewhere in recent times is the descent into emotions and populism.
Populism promises the Earth and delivers much worse than before; populism finds easy scapegoats, easy targets and isn't interested in detail or in facts.
"So to this septic isle, facing shortages of commodities as diverse as gas, petrol, carbon dioxide, beer, lorry drivers, chicken, hospitality staff, care workers, turkeys, and prime ministers who understand economics. The last one could turn out to be a particular shitter..."
"You may have lost count of how many “perfect storms” have gathered on the horizon. You may even be starting to think it doesn’t mean what they think it means. I’m picturing the first little pig failing to evacuate in timely fashion because he was so busy briefing journalists..."
“What you have to understand is that this is a ‘perfect storm’, entirely unrelated to the fact I spent no more than three minutes building my house out of a famously windborne agricultural byproduct before kicking back with a nice pint of what-could-possibly-go-wrong..."
I couldn't agree more with Aaron. And it's not new either.
Long long before Ken Livingstone became a complete embarrassment, remember how Tony Blair treated him? He rigged the vote for Labour's mayoral candidate. Rigged it. And this was just lapped up by Blairites!
Then he did the exact same thing to Rhodri Morgan in Wales. Unbelievable.
Both Alun Michael and Frank Dobson were like walking self-parodies, they were such a joke... and Blair's vote rigging met with the miserable failure it deserved.
But then ask yourself: how many 'centrists' have ever strongly advocated for and educated others about the desperate need for electoral reform?
They couldn't care less about it when, once in a blue moon, Labour are in government.
3. But there's confusion out there: an absolute ton of it.
In March, YouGov included as possible sexual harassment, 'a man asking a woman out for a drink'. It removed that after a backlash - but at least some women will consider that as harassment.
It depends on the woman, and the situation - and especially on the emotional intelligence of the man.
But men aren't taught emotional intelligence. Nobody is. And many men find themselves expected to both be emotionally intelligent AND not show their emotions. That is nuts.