I have never been an uncritical defender of the principle of either of them, but the day was won by the Supreme Court, and by the Equality Act for which the Conservative Party had voted before almost immediately spending 14 years never even hinting at repealing it. Apart from that, though, Parliament Square writes:
Kemi Badenoch used PMQs to deliver an Old Testament-style rebuke to the prime minister yesterday, energising her fans beyond even those brave souls who wish to be put on the Tories’ candidates’ list.
The leader of the opposition argued that the issue was one of “moral courage … about doing the right thing, even when it is difficult.” But positioning herself as a gender critical warrior on the front lines with JK Rowling and Maya Forstater is perhaps slightly brave given her actual record as Equalities minister was not always characterised by delivery.
As they say, there’s always a tweet.Here she is in 2022 encouraging men to get a certificate telling them they are a woman (Just in time for the Holy month of Pride!) a document which, under the Tory laws of the time, was actually worth the paper it was written on:
Government insiders note she was weak on the trans guidance for schools, compared to some of her colleagues who used up a lot of political capital and annoyed trans-activists in government by making speeches like this.
And the key dividing line between gender critics on the left and the right — support for the Equality Act itself — leaves Kemi unambiguously on the wrong side for a conservative. Those on the right tend to see it as a part of the problem, whilst gender critics on the left would prefer to keep the Equality Act and just scrap the Gender Recognition Act instead. A perfectly respectable position in some respects, but for someone vying to lead the Right, it has raised eyebrows.
Kemi — at least in 2022 — didn’t even want to scrap the Gender Recognition Act. Yes of course she was a minister and collective responsibility existed, but nobody forces you to actually tweet out your support of something from your own account.
We're not going to let her get away with this.
ReplyDeleteNo. No, we are not. As this article illustrates.
Delete“ Those on the right tend to see it as a part of the problem, whilst gender critics on the left would prefer to keep the Equality Act and just scrap the Gender Recognition Act instead. ”
ReplyDeleteIndeed; the party that created the Gender Recognition Act in 2004 also created the Equality Act and the Supreme Court as a double lock against social conservatism.
The Equality Act was later used to close Catholic adoption agencies and B&Bs for refusing to accommodate gay couples.
The Supreme Court in its ruling reminded everyone that trans people still have absolute protection against any discrimination under the Equality Act: this is a hollow victory. Only scrapping all the New Labour’s Far Left legislation-including the creation of the unBritish Supreme Court-can turn the tide.
That "Catholic adoption agencies" line is always the mark of people who are out of their depth. There is still a Protestant fundamentalist adoption agency in this country, acting fully in accordance with its principles.
DeleteThe Catholic agencies had long ago stopped mentioning the Faith, although they had been founded to stop the placing of Catholic orphans with Protestant families who often even changed their Irish names.
As soon as they stopped insisting that they would place children only with practising Catholics who adhered to Catholic principles, then they had no defence against, for example, being required to place children with same-sex couples, who would go on to include David Cameron's same-sex married couples.
But the Protestant fundamentalists had continued to insist that they would place children only with Protestant fundamentalists, and they are still doing so, untroubled by the present Labour Government, by the previous Conservative Government, by the Coalition before that, or by the Labour Government that is blamed for having closed down the Catholic adoption agencies.
It did not. Effectively, they closed themselves down. If they had stuck to their founding principles decades before, then that Government would have left them alone. That is not a guess. The record proves it.
Why not set up a proper Catholic adoption agency?
DeleteI have more than enough to be getting on with, but someone should do it. Let's see what the next Pontificate brings.
Delete“Effectively, they closed themselves down”
ReplyDeleteUtter nonsense. After the Equality Act, no British adoption agencies are allowed to give children exclusively to married heterosexual couples, as they were before New Labour. The Equality Act, including the Sexual Orientation Regulations (banning any discrimination on the grounds of sex or sexuality) initially granted Catholic agencies a period to comply and then forced the closure of those that refused to place children with same-sex parents. The same Equality Act was also used to prevent Evangelical Christian foster parents such as Owen and Eunice Jones from adopting children and to close Christian-run B&Bs (that refused to allow gay couples to share a bed) such as that of Sue and Jeff Green.
It was created to enforce New Labour’s sexual and cultural revolution and ban social conservatism. New Labour sees it as its crowning achievement.
No, you are just factually wrong about this. At least one agency is still functioning as you describe, for the reason that I gave.
DeleteI've found one set up in 2013, became a charity in 2014, still going strong. As you say always been clear about where it stood so that's that, the Catholic ones wobbled years ago and look what happened to them.
DeleteSo if anyone did set up a Catholic one, then that would be the way to do it. Clearly, it can be done.
Delete“I've found one set up in 2013, became a charity in 2014, still going strong.“
ReplyDeleteName it-name a single Catholic adoption agency that’s now allowed to run on Christian principles-only offering children for adoption to married heterosexual couples. Of course you can’t name a single one because they all had to close. The only ones that stayed open were those that had to agree to comply with New Labour’s law and abandon Christian principles.
Just as the Gender Recognition Act, which started the nonsense that ended in the Supreme Court, was New Labour legislation and Labour under Jeremy Corbyn was the first British party to commit to self identification in its manifesto.
It was never in a Tory manifesto though only Reform UK has been utterly consistent in opposing it.
It hasn't been, but we may come back to that in the days to come.
DeleteI assume that Anonymous 22:14 meant an Evangelical Protestant agency. In fact, I think I know which one.
I did and you're right.
DeleteIt is good to have this cleared up.
DeleteWe remember you at that conference, Mr. L. Time to dust down a couple of files?
DeleteTime to forward them to time-richer people, perhaps?
DeleteAccording to J.K. Rowling, Badenoch "remains the only UK political leader offering unequivocal solidarity to women defending their rights." But that's not true, there is no one else but Badenoch is as bad as everyone else.
ReplyDeleteIt fell to the Supreme Court.
Delete“Badenoch is as bad as everyone else. “
ReplyDeleteReform UK has an exemplary record on this.
Not according to J.K Rowling.
Delete