Labour and Trans-rights

I am transphobic. But I think that Labour has a lot to learn from Scotland when it comes to Transgender issues.

I do not consider a transgender person to be anything other transgender. This means that I consider a TransMan to be a TransMan, not a woman, not a man, but a TransMan. I also consider one who is before transitioning to be different to one who has undergone gender reassignment surgery. The same applies to TransWomen. I do not consider them to be men or women, but I view each as a TransWoman, one with or without a penis.

I think that pronouns should be respected, but I think that it is silly to advertise your own if you do not wish to do so. I consider it rude to refer to India Willoughby as a man, she does not consider herself to be one anymore. Likewise, if someone prefers to be referred to as Ms, as opposed to Miss or Mrs, then that should be respected.

I think that in areas, such as toilets and changing rooms, where segregation has occurred by biological sex, it should be replaced by genitalia. I have no issues with gender neutral or unisex spaces existing, especially as we live in a world with multiple gender identities, but people should have the choice to go to places there they can be segregated. There are many devout followers of many religions who believe in segregation based on biological sex, and a compromise based on genitalia is, in my view, the best way forwards.

I think that sports should have the right to protect women’s sports based on biological sex and I do not consider this to be a violent act or an act of genocide against transgender people. Each sport should have the right to make its own decision on this.

I think that there are more than one hundred gender identities l and that people should be allowed to question what gender they are. That includes discussions and education about this at school, as well as respecting the choice of a secondary school student to be non-binary and for the parents not to be told. If a student wants to use gender neutral facilities, they should have that choice and accepting the risks of doing so, but segregation based on biological sex has to be available. 

I am in favour of self ID when it comes to gender identities but I as discussed earlier, I think that segregation is important.  The wait to see someone on the NHS who is an expert on gender are far too long for ID to be based on an expert view. 

I know that JK Rowling is right when she argues that “the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable.” Also JK Rowling is right that “Trans people need and deserve protection. Like women, they’re most likely to be killed by sexual partners. Trans women who work in the sex industry, particularly trans women of colour, are at particular risk. Like every other domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men.” In her article, she does not argue for gender neutral facilities, but I think that there should be gender neutral shelters as men can be the victims of domestic violence, and we can avoid situations like that which happened in Canada, when Desiree Anderson, 32, also known as Cody D’Entremont, was accused of assault. Or the situation of Katie Dolatowski (aka Lennon Dolatowski/Alyanna McKenna), a sex offender who was housed in a women’s unit.  “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman” “you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.” We have seen a person using self identification to try to expose himself to women and girls in a Seattle changing room. I agree with Emily Atack that cyber-flashing should be a crime. We should not make it legal to flash a woman in person but make it illegal to do so electronically. 

I disagree with many transphobic people about some aspects of transgender rights, but I accept that I am to be considered to be the same as them.

Rhodes is burning

My family are getting a bit stressed.  We are to travel to Rhodes again during the summer holidays. That is assuming that it is not on fire.

On that topic, a quick discussion on climate change.  The wildfires in Rhodes have not been caused by climate change.  They have been caused by arson.  Climate change means that wildfires are more likely to happen, and when they do they are more likely to be worse, because forests are dryer.  

I am aware that by flying there, we will be contributing to climate change, but this is to be our first family holiday abroad in a few years. Besides, the people of Rhodes will need the money that tourism is to bring in. 

But, concerns about how wildfires are getting worse has been present before the pandemic.  I am not sure if anyone remembers how Trump thought that Finland prevented wildfires. It just appears that governments across the planet are doing too little about this.

Should Londoners have to live with more or less pollution?

First of all, we won the pub quiz.  We enter for fun and never think that we are going to win, but have done well when the questions have been very hard.  They were very hard this week and this is the first time we have won the quiz at the Fat Cat!  That meant £28 between the six of us.

Second, the issue of Nigel Farage being a grifter came up.  The description was more colourful than I had used, but he was the answer to the question about someone with "xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views" though I admit that the question appeared to show some bias against Farage

Next, my son is preparing for a week without his sister.  I have reminded him that his chores will need to be done, and that he is going to have to ensure that he looks after Leia properly.  My daughter is to travel to France for a week tomorrow. She has packed ready for it and we have given her some money for this, but to be fair, have given him money, which he is already making plans to spend!

But, the title of this refers to ULEZ. I was talking with our friend Nick at the quiz, about the recent election results and the direction that Labour have taken before and since then.  Basically, Sadiq Khan has brought in ULEZ to help the people of London. Starmer appears to have stabbed him in the back over this and I strongly disagree with him over this.  A leader leads by example. If you do not back loyalty, you cannot expect loyalty. In addition to this, Labour needs to show some backbone and come out fighting. Admit that ULEZ is going to lose votes, but say that the health of those in London is more important and that if you want no action to be taken on pollution, vote Conservative. 

ULEZ has some effect on climate, but the main reason for reducing emissions is to reduce pollution. Be honest, have a simple and easy message for people to remember and keep repeating it.  If you want no action to be taken on pollution, vote Conservative.

The Hippopotamus

Loved it. My wife recommended this, though she was not able to recall the plot of the book when we did. It is an interesting take on a whodunnit especially as you do not know what is being investigated at first. It has great scenery, but, like many films set in the UK, it shows the posh side of the nation. Also, I suspect that the book would have been better as some of the characters did not seem to have time to be developed, I may be wrong as there are books about which could be improved as well. I am glad that I watched it and this is a film that I might be tempted to watch again. 

As for the rest of today, I spent it annoying the kids, but we did visit my mother and my parents-in-law. They loved seeing our children, but all felt we should have spent longer with them.

Both children are now on their summer holidays. They watched Barbie yesterday but had mixed experiences. My daughter went with some friends which included some boys she does not consider friends and felt that they made the film experience one which was not as good as she liked. My son loved it and when asked about it being sexist stated that it was not. I guess my wife and I will watch it on the small screen, but we may be tempted to watch it in cinema as it appears to be a more enlightened take on Barbie.

How the Ultra Low Emission Zone and the Uxbridge by-election should strengthen Labour

There is a big argument in Labour that it is not being radical enough. An example of Labour not being radical is the decision not to scrap the two-child benefit cap. I have to say that I disagree with this decision but I do understand that Labour will have to make hard choices.

Many want Labour to have more left wing policies, but as much as I want Labour to be more left wing, it has to be elected to undo a lot of the damage that the Conservatives have inflicted upon our nation since 2010. 

Many see that the difference between the victory of Labour in Selby and its loss in Uxbridge (by less than 500 votes) is the ULEZ policy. I know that this is going to cause hardship for many, but I am with Sadiq Khan that action needs to be taken.

The thing is that elections are won by getting people to switch votes.  Boris Johnson did that in 2019 when he got almost four in ten UNITE members to vote Conservative. In Uxbridge, the ‘radical’ policy was rejected by too many voters. 

I want a radical Labour government that will bring about real change and results. I will settle for a less radical Labour government which is electable. Those who are not happy with Starmer for not being left wing enough need to decide if they would prefer him or Sunak to be Prime Minister after the next General Election. 

When is it right for a business to discriminate

In PMQ's the issue of if Farage should be discriminated against came up.  It has transpired that the bank he was with decided not to allow him to bank with them because they felt that he had a different view to him.  That would be acceptable, if they did this all the time, but they do not.

An internal report, prepared for the Coutts risk committee, had described Farage as a “disingenuous grifter” who promotes “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views” and while Farage had described the dossier as a “prejudiced, nasty document” the report is right.

The issue that I am concerned about, is if it is right to deny Farage the right to bank, what about other people and also other organisations?  Would it be right to deny banking services to Just Stop Oil, an organisation I agree with (in part)?

I have no issues with a bank trying to be ethical, so long as it tries more often than Coutts has in this situation.  Well, I do have issues, but I would accept them more if the policy was one that is open and transparent.  Nigel Farage has just as much right to have a bank account as Gerry Adams does and a bank changing rules to discriminate against him is just as wrong as it would be for a bank to discriminate against Just Stop Oil.

Robots

One review for this film says "There are no real laugh-out-loud moments, no emotionally moving denouement, just a bland but good-natured outing you can safely forget the moment it’s over." I have to disagree, but I suspect my wife would agree with the review. I guess we came at this from two different perspectives. I had watched some terrible films, she had not. So this was an improvement for me. 

This is not an emotionally taxing film, and as a man, I had some laugh out loud moments. It may be that this is a film better suited for men rather than women, but I do agree that this is not that memorable a film. Unlike the previous two films I had watched, it had a decent, if predictable plot, laughs and it was put together properly. I liked the characters, even the ones who are not likeable, and that is an important part of a film.

I doubt that I will ever watch this film again but I did enjoy it. I would not recommend going out of your way to watch it, but if it is on and you are looking for something to watch, pick it. There are lots of films about which are worse,