[11 March 2024]
Welcome to The Trans Agenda, a newsletter that will arrive in your inbox Monday to Friday morning if you are subscribed. You can also read it on Substack and on Trans Writes.
Publications known for taking an anti-trans stance are and will be referenced and linked. Often, these are the most comprehensive sources for these stories because of their obsession with trans people. I give a summary for those stories so you can make the choice if you want to click the link or seek out more information elsewhere.
NEWS & POLITICS
Liz Truss anti-trans private member’s bill [The Times]
- Former Prime Minister Liz Truss is promoting her private members’ bill, aimed at legally defining sex as ‘biological sex’, and is seeking support from the UK government, which she is likely to get. A spokesperson for the government stated that Kemi Badenoch is “currently reviewing ways to better differentiate and reinforce the legal distinction between sex and gender.”Truss’s bill, which aims to embed transphobia as British law, has as much chance of passing as I do of becoming the next PM, but it speaks to a bigger problem, about which I talk more further down.
EHRC chair feels sorry for herself [Sunday Telegraph]
- Kishwer Falkner, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC),gave an interview to the Sunday Telegraph this week that, on the surface, looked to be about migrants and integration.
![Integration in Britain has failed The former Lib Dem peer on the failures of multiculturalism and facing down an attempt to oust her from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Sunday Telegraph10 Mar 2024By Edward Malnick When Baroness Falkner of Margravine faced down a concerted attempt to oust her as the country’s equalities chief last year, she appeared to buck a trend that has seen a series of political figures forced out of their roles by anonymous officials making bullying claims. The 68-year-old chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) appeared stoic in the face of a campaign that began in May 2023 when a dossier of allegations against her, from a handful of EHRC officials, was leaked to Channel 4 News. It included allegations that she had presided over “a toxic culture”, with specific complaints including that she had “rolled her eyes at staff ” who expressed concerns about the approach of the watchdog’s board. While full details of the claims were never released, Falkner later suggested that some other concerns centred on “performance management” issues, such as the standards required of staff drafting letters on behalf of the EHRC. Last autumn, the formal investigation was dropped following a separate review, launched by Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, to examine how the EHRC handled the allegations against its chairman. Falkner received a “full apology” from the board. Privately, though, the eight-month saga took a profound toll and Falkner now reveals she “contemplated walking away more than once”. While the ending of the investigation last year amounted to a vindication of Falkner’s denials of wrongdoing, behind the scenes the probe came at a heavy financial and emotional cost. Falkner’s legal bills amounted to £30,000. While Falkner will not discuss the particular claims against her, it is clear throughout our interview in the EHRC’s Westminster boardroom that although she has an air of nervousness, the former Liberal Democrat peer does not mince her words. She was first notified of the claims against her in February last year, when Marcial Boo, the former EHRC chief executive and one of her deputies, told her that staff had lodged complaints. For “two or three months”, she says, she was then left in the dark about details of the complaints, unable to mount a defence, even in her own mind. “That interregnum before you actually get the detail of the allegations is, I would say, the darkest period. Certainly it was for me. “Once I got additional information, then I was able to go back, see what I’d said, find my evidence and the context in which certain things were said or done. And then I started feeling much more confident about still being here.” Falkner says she was not the first chairman of the EHRC to be investigated and, in fact, was “the third out of four”, since the body was set up under New Labour’s 2006 Equality Act. As we speak, Falkner chooses her words carefully when asked if she agrees with claims that the allegations against her were motivated by activism among some officials. “The thought did cross my mind in terms of the chronology of events, that it might have had something to do with some of the decisions we as a board were taking. So I’m not going to deny that, but I don’t want to talk about it.” Prior to Falkner’s appointment in 2020, the EHRC had been seen as in hock to Stonewall, the charity that has clashed with women’s groups over its campaigning for trans rights. Her predecessor was a former Stonewall chairman. Interviewed by The Telegraph in 2021, Falkner insisted that the EHRC would “demonstrate that we are the equality body for everyone”. In 2022 the EHRC angered Stonewall by publishing guidance stating that trans women can be excluded from female-only changing rooms and lavatories. In May 2023 the claims against Falkner spilled into the public domain. She found herself on the front pages of newspapers for days, amid a barrage of allegations against her and a furious response from parliamentarians who feared that she was the victim of a politically motivated campaign. It was not lost on Tory MPs that Dominic Raab and Priti Patel, two exacting senior Conservatives, had both lost their Cabinet jobs in the wake of bullying allegations by officials. Ultimately, says Falkner, “in my mind, it became important to see this through because it is a valuable organisation. And if it has a problem that seems to be a recurrent problem, then it is for the incumbent who is going through it to see it through.” She believes that the EHRC “is stronger now and moving forward with fresh determination”. At the time of the row over her leadership, “we were delivering this, a five-year study of the state of equality and human rights in Britain,” she says, holding aloft a hefty report published late last year. It was also bringing legal cases against companies and public bodies flouting the Equality Act. Falkner’s matter-of-fact manner does, however, give way to offer a glimpse of the private pain she felt last year. At one point as she recounts her experience, tears roll down her face. “I think the most difficult thing, in terms of family, was that my husband and I had long planned a sabbatical in Germany, because he had a year out to write a book. We rented the flat and I was going to go and spend some quality time with him there, continuing to work, of course. And I couldn’t go. So I was pretty alone.” Her husband, Robert, a professor of international relations with whom Falkner has one daughter, would call his wife on Zoom each evening, “for half an hour, just to check in. I have the most wonderfully supportive family,” she says. Falkner, a Muslim first-generation migrant who was born and brought up in Pakistan, says that she has generated “resilience” from her upbringing and experience of moving from country to country before settling in the UK, aged 21. She later studied international relations at the London School of Economics, followed by a masters at the University of Kent. Early on in her career she worked in Saudi Arabia, before rising through the Lib Dem ranks to become the director of policy in the 1990s, and, later, a senior researcher at the Commonwealth Secretariat. “I experienced civil war in my own country growing up. I’ve experienced living in the Middle East, I worked across Africa a great deal.” Ultimately, she says, now ensconced in the UK, where she lives in a west London flat with her husband, she benefits from “a stable environment” which makes it easier to cope with “setbacks”. “Staff getting up day in, day out and delivering for the country was what made me and the board resilient,” she says. “When you came in, and you saw that people… their focus was unaltered, then you have to look at yourself and say, I might have cried into my pillow last night [but] what my brain said to itself is, you have to get a grip and deliver. That’s what life is about. It’s behind me now. I see, actually, no purpose in dwelling on it.” Though now Falkner is being repeatedly approached by “people in very senior positions… who find themselves in the same situation, asking if I have any advice [on] how to get through it.” One general problem, she suggests, is the speed at which grievances about someone’s behaviour escalate into full-blown workplace disputes, and she warns of a need for major changes to avoid “good people” being put off taking on senior public roles by experiences such as hers. “It is a sad state of affairs that – and I’m not talking here at a personal level – escalation happens so fast.” One common factor, she suggests, is age. “It is possible, if you’re a 70-year-old, or even a 50-year-old, to speak a little carelessly about somebody… a 22-year-old may well be described as a ‘snowflake’ because [they] are a little taken aback by a tone of voice that someone has. People grew up in certain hierarchical structures that no longer exist.” Companies and public bodies must decide whether, in such scenarios, “you escalate instantly or you try to knock heads together to reach pragmatic compromises,” she says. Falkner has not been reimbursed for a penny of her legal costs. On the other hand, the costs incurred by the EHRC while investigating her amounted to “rather more” than the £200,000 that was reported last year, although she will not confirm a figure. The case ended up involving four or five KCs. She says: “The question must be asked as to why good people don’t stand up for public appointments in the numbers they used to before… I think it is fair for those people to say ‘I shouldn’t be asked to expend my own savings in defending myself should something happen in the course of my executing my professional duties’.” She points to the directors’ insurance taken out by many private firms and says public bodies should be allowed to take out such policies for their chairmen and board members. “I will be writing to the Commissioner of Public Appointments to make that case.” Those who have sought Falkner’s advice “never expected that they would be having to raid their family’s pension pot” or remortgaging in order to deal with professional battles. Stonewall has been accused by a coalition of gender-critical groups of “harassing” Falkner personally, which it denies. It is part of a coalition of organisations that has reported the EHRC to the United Nations, partly over its stance on trans rights under her chairmanship. To any organisation demanding preferential treatment for one group or another, she says: “You’re not going to get that with me and my board, that’s for sure.” Falkner is “extremely concerned” about the tone of public debate about trans and women’s rights and warns that “there should be no disrespect for sincerely-held beliefs”. “But I also believe that we have a dangerous climate now, where the rights of trans people are not being upheld as well as they might be. It’s very distressing to see that there is such a rise in anti-trans hate crime.” More broadly, Falkner believes the time has come for Parliament to update the Equality Act – which the EHRC is responsible for policing – to clarify the balance between trans and women’s rights. Currently the country is reliant on court rulings, sometimes by “activist judges”, to clarify (or in some cases, make), the law. And in order to avoid “endless litigation”, such as a case in which the Supreme Court has been asked to rule on whether the Scottish government was right to include trans women in its official definition of women. “There are easier ways to do things and I think sometimes Parliament does have to assert its own primacy in terms of the legislation that it has passed.” One area in which Falkner believes that there are already sufficient laws is the policing of extremism. She was appointed to the Lords by Charles Kennedy in 2004 after an unsuccessful attempt to become an MP. “I’ve sat through I cannot tell you how many counter-terrorism and extremist and public order laws in Parliament in my 20 years there. I don’t think it’s a matter of the laws being inadequate. I think it’s a matter of even-handedness in applying the law to all communities.” On November 10, Falkner wrote to the Metropolitan Police to warn that pro-Palestinian protesters’ rights were “not absolute” and must be balanced against the rights of those – presumably Jews – to whom some behaviour seen on the streets might cause “anxiety”. Reflecting on the events of the past five months, she says: “It’s been a sad period to witness this level of discord on Britain’s streets but, more seriously, to imagine that there are some communities in our country who don’t feel safe coming out and about.” In September, Suella Braverman was pilloried for saying she believed that the state policy of multiculturalism had “failed” because it “makes no demands of the incomer to integrate”. Today Falkner, whose politics would seem far from Braverman’s, appears to have come to similar conclusions. “One of the things that’s come as a surprise to people like me, who have had quite a long history of speaking about multiculturalism and integration, is that we seem to be failing to integrate. And it’s one thing to be very proud of our diversity and our pluralism in our society. But I think we’ve missed a trick in the past 15 or 20 years.” Falkner, who was a member of Tony Blair’s task force on Muslim extremism in the wake of the July 7 2005 bombings, is anxious that warnings she first recalls being raised in a 2001 report highlighting segregation in Bradford schools appear to have gone largely unheeded. “You can’t have segregated, parallel lives from school upwards. More than 20 years ago, Gordon Brown spoke a great deal about British values, and somehow we haven’t managed to deliver a society that actually coheres around a broad understanding of what British values are. ‘Why don’t good people stand up for public appointments in the numbers they used to?’ ‘I might have cried into my pillow, but you have to get a grip and deliver’ “Democracy and respect for minorities go hand in hand. I am so concerned about it that I’m meeting the Community Security Trust this afternoon. And I’ve also asked to meet the Muslim Council of Britain to hear their concerns and to urge both of them to put their best foot forward in urging that the rights that are exercised are done so in a responsible way.” She adds, however: “I think the majority of Muslims in our country have absolutely no dispute about Israel’s right to exist, have absolutely no truck with organisations like Hamas, and actually regret the fact that the events of October 7 have led to the great catastrophe for fellow Muslims.” Falkner grew up in a liberal household in Pakistan, raised alongside four sisters and a brother. Her mother was a journalist and her father set up the intelligence training division of the Pakistan military in Murree, a garrison town in the foothills of the Himalayas, where she was educated at a privately run convent. She was taught civics from the age of 12 and was bemused to find no such provision in this country. Better education is needed in schools on human rights and how they are qualified, she says. “Everyone jumps up and down and says it is my right to do this, it’s my right to do that. And they don’t pause to think about the fact that most rights are contextually based… they are not absolute rights.” She continues: “I was once a first-generation migrant. New arrivals in this country have to be absolutely clear that if they choose to come here they must live by our norms, they must live by our values. They must hold in their hands this wonderful delicate thing called democracy, which is like a Ming vase. And I think we’re at the stage now where I am worried about the state of democracy.” She is concerned about “complacency” among politicians over the consequences of a major increase in immigration. A government focus on extremism following the July 7 attacks was no longer “at the forefront of people’s minds” after “things calmed down”. “But one of the big factoids of the past decade is that we have significantly increased immigration. And while we, of course, welcome the fact that we are an inclusive and accommodating country… We also have to recognise that large numbers of first-generation migrants haven’t had the background of growing up in a rights-respecting country. “What I would love to see would be a concerted programme of integration. Our citizenship test was a good innovation, but I think we need to do more than that. We need to require people to take courses in integration. “The complacency is what worries me,” she says, “and that’s why I thought the Prime Minister’s speech last week was important, but I only wish it had come a month earlier.” In the coming months, Badenoch will decide whether to extend Falkner’s contract to a second term. If an election is called before then, the decision could fall to Labour. She has been lobbying for a “tiny”, 0.5 per cent increase in the EHRC’s budget, which has remained at £17.1 million since 2012, despite a flow of new laws and rulings bolstering the watchdog’s responsibilities. “You can’t keep imposing new asks on an organisation without increasing the funding,” she says. If the steeliness with which she has dealt with her travails so far is anything to go by, it is difficult to imagine Falkner not winning this battle too. Article Name:Integration in Britain has failed Publication:The Sunday Telegraph Author:By Edward Malnick Start Page:22 End Page:22](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4a3cee0-a395-4c90-9395-6a0bf0cf658e_470x748.png "Integration in Britain has failed The former Lib Dem peer on the failures of multiculturalism and facing down an attempt to oust her from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Sunday Telegraph10 Mar 2024By Edward Malnick When Baroness Falkner of Margravine faced down a concerted attempt to oust her as the country’s equalities chief last year, she appeared to buck a trend that has seen a series of political figures forced out of their roles by anonymous officials making bullying claims. The 68-year-old chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) appeared stoic in the face of a campaign that began in May 2023 when a dossier of allegations against her, from a handful of EHRC officials, was leaked to Channel 4 News. It included allegations that she had presided over “a toxic culture”, with specific complaints including that she had “rolled her eyes at staff ” who expressed concerns about the approach of the watchdog’s board. While full details of the claims were never released, Falkner later suggested that some other concerns centred on “performance management” issues, such as the standards required of staff drafting letters on behalf of the EHRC. Last autumn, the formal investigation was dropped following a separate review, launched by Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, to examine how the EHRC handled the allegations against its chairman. Falkner received a “full apology” from the board. Privately, though, the eight-month saga took a profound toll and Falkner now reveals she “contemplated walking away more than once”. While the ending of the investigation last year amounted to a vindication of Falkner’s denials of wrongdoing, behind the scenes the probe came at a heavy financial and emotional cost. Falkner’s legal bills amounted to £30,000. While Falkner will not discuss the particular claims against her, it is clear throughout our interview in the EHRC’s Westminster boardroom that although she has an air of nervousness, the former Liberal Democrat peer does not mince her words. She was first notified of the claims against her in February last year, when Marcial Boo, the former EHRC chief executive and one of her deputies, told her that staff had lodged complaints. For “two or three months”, she says, she was then left in the dark about details of the complaints, unable to mount a defence, even in her own mind. “That interregnum before you actually get the detail of the allegations is, I would say, the darkest period. Certainly it was for me. “Once I got additional information, then I was able to go back, see what I’d said, find my evidence and the context in which certain things were said or done. And then I started feeling much more confident about still being here.” Falkner says she was not the first chairman of the EHRC to be investigated and, in fact, was “the third out of four”, since the body was set up under New Labour’s 2006 Equality Act. As we speak, Falkner chooses her words carefully when asked if she agrees with claims that the allegations against her were motivated by activism among some officials. “The thought did cross my mind in terms of the chronology of events, that it might have had something to do with some of the decisions we as a board were taking. So I’m not going to deny that, but I don’t want to talk about it.” Prior to Falkner’s appointment in 2020, the EHRC had been seen as in hock to Stonewall, the charity that has clashed with women’s groups over its campaigning for trans rights. Her predecessor was a former Stonewall chairman. Interviewed by The Telegraph in 2021, Falkner insisted that the EHRC would “demonstrate that we are the equality body for everyone”. In 2022 the EHRC angered Stonewall by publishing guidance stating that trans women can be excluded from female-only changing rooms and lavatories. In May 2023 the claims against Falkner spilled into the public domain. She found herself on the front pages of newspapers for days, amid a barrage of allegations against her and a furious response from parliamentarians who feared that she was the victim of a politically motivated campaign. It was not lost on Tory MPs that Dominic Raab and Priti Patel, two exacting senior Conservatives, had both lost their Cabinet jobs in the wake of bullying allegations by officials. Ultimately, says Falkner, “in my mind, it became important to see this through because it is a valuable organisation. And if it has a problem that seems to be a recurrent problem, then it is for the incumbent who is going through it to see it through.” She believes that the EHRC “is stronger now and moving forward with fresh determination”. At the time of the row over her leadership, “we were delivering this, a five-year study of the state of equality and human rights in Britain,” she says, holding aloft a hefty report published late last year. It was also bringing legal cases against companies and public bodies flouting the Equality Act. Falkner’s matter-of-fact manner does, however, give way to offer a glimpse of the private pain she felt last year. At one point as she recounts her experience, tears roll down her face. “I think the most difficult thing, in terms of family, was that my husband and I had long planned a sabbatical in Germany, because he had a year out to write a book. We rented the flat and I was going to go and spend some quality time with him there, continuing to work, of course. And I couldn’t go. So I was pretty alone.” Her husband, Robert, a professor of international relations with whom Falkner has one daughter, would call his wife on Zoom each evening, “for half an hour, just to check in. I have the most wonderfully supportive family,” she says. Falkner, a Muslim first-generation migrant who was born and brought up in Pakistan, says that she has generated “resilience” from her upbringing and experience of moving from country to country before settling in the UK, aged 21. She later studied international relations at the London School of Economics, followed by a masters at the University of Kent. Early on in her career she worked in Saudi Arabia, before rising through the Lib Dem ranks to become the director of policy in the 1990s, and, later, a senior researcher at the Commonwealth Secretariat. “I experienced civil war in my own country growing up. I’ve experienced living in the Middle East, I worked across Africa a great deal.” Ultimately, she says, now ensconced in the UK, where she lives in a west London flat with her husband, she benefits from “a stable environment” which makes it easier to cope with “setbacks”. “Staff getting up day in, day out and delivering for the country was what made me and the board resilient,” she says. “When you came in, and you saw that people… their focus was unaltered, then you have to look at yourself and say, I might have cried into my pillow last night [but] what my brain said to itself is, you have to get a grip and deliver. That’s what life is about. It’s behind me now. I see, actually, no purpose in dwelling on it.” Though now Falkner is being repeatedly approached by “people in very senior positions… who find themselves in the same situation, asking if I have any advice [on] how to get through it.” One general problem, she suggests, is the speed at which grievances about someone’s behaviour escalate into full-blown workplace disputes, and she warns of a need for major changes to avoid “good people” being put off taking on senior public roles by experiences such as hers. “It is a sad state of affairs that – and I’m not talking here at a personal level – escalation happens so fast.” One common factor, she suggests, is age. “It is possible, if you’re a 70-year-old, or even a 50-year-old, to speak a little carelessly about somebody… a 22-year-old may well be described as a ‘snowflake’ because [they] are a little taken aback by a tone of voice that someone has. People grew up in certain hierarchical structures that no longer exist.” Companies and public bodies must decide whether, in such scenarios, “you escalate instantly or you try to knock heads together to reach pragmatic compromises,” she says. Falkner has not been reimbursed for a penny of her legal costs. On the other hand, the costs incurred by the EHRC while investigating her amounted to “rather more” than the £200,000 that was reported last year, although she will not confirm a figure. The case ended up involving four or five KCs. She says: “The question must be asked as to why good people don’t stand up for public appointments in the numbers they used to before… I think it is fair for those people to say ‘I shouldn’t be asked to expend my own savings in defending myself should something happen in the course of my executing my professional duties’.” She points to the directors’ insurance taken out by many private firms and says public bodies should be allowed to take out such policies for their chairmen and board members. “I will be writing to the Commissioner of Public Appointments to make that case.” Those who have sought Falkner’s advice “never expected that they would be having to raid their family’s pension pot” or remortgaging in order to deal with professional battles. Stonewall has been accused by a coalition of gender-critical groups of “harassing” Falkner personally, which it denies. It is part of a coalition of organisations that has reported the EHRC to the United Nations, partly over its stance on trans rights under her chairmanship. To any organisation demanding preferential treatment for one group or another, she says: “You’re not going to get that with me and my board, that’s for sure.” Falkner is “extremely concerned” about the tone of public debate about trans and women’s rights and warns that “there should be no disrespect for sincerely-held beliefs”. “But I also believe that we have a dangerous climate now, where the rights of trans people are not being upheld as well as they might be. It’s very distressing to see that there is such a rise in anti-trans hate crime.” More broadly, Falkner believes the time has come for Parliament to update the Equality Act – which the EHRC is responsible for policing – to clarify the balance between trans and women’s rights. Currently the country is reliant on court rulings, sometimes by “activist judges”, to clarify (or in some cases, make), the law. And in order to avoid “endless litigation”, such as a case in which the Supreme Court has been asked to rule on whether the Scottish government was right to include trans women in its official definition of women. “There are easier ways to do things and I think sometimes Parliament does have to assert its own primacy in terms of the legislation that it has passed.” One area in which Falkner believes that there are already sufficient laws is the policing of extremism. She was appointed to the Lords by Charles Kennedy in 2004 after an unsuccessful attempt to become an MP. “I’ve sat through I cannot tell you how many counter-terrorism and extremist and public order laws in Parliament in my 20 years there. I don’t think it’s a matter of the laws being inadequate. I think it’s a matter of even-handedness in applying the law to all communities.” On November 10, Falkner wrote to the Metropolitan Police to warn that pro-Palestinian protesters’ rights were “not absolute” and must be balanced against the rights of those – presumably Jews – to whom some behaviour seen on the streets might cause “anxiety”. Reflecting on the events of the past five months, she says: “It’s been a sad period to witness this level of discord on Britain’s streets but, more seriously, to imagine that there are some communities in our country who don’t feel safe coming out and about.” In September, Suella Braverman was pilloried for saying she believed that the state policy of multiculturalism had “failed” because it “makes no demands of the incomer to integrate”. Today Falkner, whose politics would seem far from Braverman’s, appears to have come to similar conclusions. “One of the things that’s come as a surprise to people like me, who have had quite a long history of speaking about multiculturalism and integration, is that we seem to be failing to integrate. And it’s one thing to be very proud of our diversity and our pluralism in our society. But I think we’ve missed a trick in the past 15 or 20 years.” Falkner, who was a member of Tony Blair’s task force on Muslim extremism in the wake of the July 7 2005 bombings, is anxious that warnings she first recalls being raised in a 2001 report highlighting segregation in Bradford schools appear to have gone largely unheeded. “You can’t have segregated, parallel lives from school upwards. More than 20 years ago, Gordon Brown spoke a great deal about British values, and somehow we haven’t managed to deliver a society that actually coheres around a broad understanding of what British values are. ‘Why don’t good people stand up for public appointments in the numbers they used to?’ ‘I might have cried into my pillow, but you have to get a grip and deliver’ “Democracy and respect for minorities go hand in hand. I am so concerned about it that I’m meeting the Community Security Trust this afternoon. And I’ve also asked to meet the Muslim Council of Britain to hear their concerns and to urge both of them to put their best foot forward in urging that the rights that are exercised are done so in a responsible way.” She adds, however: “I think the majority of Muslims in our country have absolutely no dispute about Israel’s right to exist, have absolutely no truck with organisations like Hamas, and actually regret the fact that the events of October 7 have led to the great catastrophe for fellow Muslims.” Falkner grew up in a liberal household in Pakistan, raised alongside four sisters and a brother. Her mother was a journalist and her father set up the intelligence training division of the Pakistan military in Murree, a garrison town in the foothills of the Himalayas, where she was educated at a privately run convent. She was taught civics from the age of 12 and was bemused to find no such provision in this country. Better education is needed in schools on human rights and how they are qualified, she says. “Everyone jumps up and down and says it is my right to do this, it’s my right to do that. And they don’t pause to think about the fact that most rights are contextually based… they are not absolute rights.” She continues: “I was once a first-generation migrant. New arrivals in this country have to be absolutely clear that if they choose to come here they must live by our norms, they must live by our values. They must hold in their hands this wonderful delicate thing called democracy, which is like a Ming vase. And I think we’re at the stage now where I am worried about the state of democracy.” She is concerned about “complacency” among politicians over the consequences of a major increase in immigration. A government focus on extremism following the July 7 attacks was no longer “at the forefront of people’s minds” after “things calmed down”. “But one of the big factoids of the past decade is that we have significantly increased immigration. And while we, of course, welcome the fact that we are an inclusive and accommodating country… We also have to recognise that large numbers of first-generation migrants haven’t had the background of growing up in a rights-respecting country. “What I would love to see would be a concerted programme of integration. Our citizenship test was a good innovation, but I think we need to do more than that. We need to require people to take courses in integration. “The complacency is what worries me,” she says, “and that’s why I thought the Prime Minister’s speech last week was important, but I only wish it had come a month earlier.” In the coming months, Badenoch will decide whether to extend Falkner’s contract to a second term. If an election is called before then, the decision could fall to Labour. She has been lobbying for a “tiny”, 0.5 per cent increase in the EHRC’s budget, which has remained at £17.1 million since 2012, despite a flow of new laws and rulings bolstering the watchdog’s responsibilities. “You can’t keep imposing new asks on an organisation without increasing the funding,” she says. If the steeliness with which she has dealt with her travails so far is anything to go by, it is difficult to imagine Falkner not winning this battle too. Article Name:Integration in Britain has failed Publication:The Sunday Telegraph Author:By Edward Malnick Start Page:22 End Page:22")
However, when you actually read the article, you find that almost half of it is dedicated to the allegations against Falkner, the process of the investigation, and her personal and financial strain. Woe is her. About a third of the article actually discusses what the headline threatens, while the remainder is about….yep, you guessed it, trans people!
“Prior to Falkner’s appointment in 2020, the EHRC had been seen as in hock to Stonewall, the charity that has clashed with women’s groups over its campaigning for trans rights,” The Telegraph write. “In 2022 the EHRC angered Stonewall by publishing guidance stating that trans women can be excluded from female-only changing rooms and lavatories.” Not just Stonewall, all trans people, our allies and anyone who actually knows the law.
At one point, Falkner actually says, “But I also believe that we have a dangerous climate now, where the rights of trans people are not being upheld as well as they might be. It’s very distressing to see that there is such a rise in anti-trans hate crime.” This is immediately followed by a call “to clarify the balance between trans and women’s rights” while having a dig at “activist judges”.
The EHRC is supposed to be an independent body but it is widely believed to dance to whatever tune Kemi Badenoch is playing [see The Trans Agenda #1 for more]. The investigation into Falkner was “dropped following a separate review, launched by Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, to examine how the EHRC handled the allegations against its chairman. Falkner received a “full apology” from the board.”
UK government publishes its ‘Provisions to support transgender children in schools’ research briefing [UK Government]
- The document outlines current guidance and policies in the UK regarding the support and rights of transgender students within the educational system. It covers the legal framework under the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination against transgender students in England, Wales, and Scotland, and mentions the lack of similar protection in Northern Ireland. It also discusses the public consultation on new draft guidance issued by the Department for Education in England, allegedly aimed at addressing the needs of children questioning their gender but in reality is nothing more than a mandate to bully trans kids. The guidance includes gender critical principles in gender critical speak such as prioritising the welfare of all children (which actually means placing cis kids ahead of trans), ensuring parental involvement (outing trans kids to their parents), respecting biological sex in legal duties (stopping trans kids using bathrooms), and considering the physical differences between sexes in sports and PE activities (stopping trans girls playing sports). Additionally, the document touches on policies and guidance in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, and addresses issues such as school uniforms, toilet facilities, changing rooms, and the curriculum on relationships and sex education.
MEDIA
Tory MP annoyed at Hollyoaks character [Nick Fletcher]
- Tory MP Nick Fletcher is outraged at the soap Hollyoaks for a storyline involving a 12-year-old fictional child who might be trans. “HOLLYOAKS – WE MUST STOP MISLEADING OUR CHILDREN,” he shouted on Twitter before providing a link to the always misleading Express where he has an even longer rant. In the article, he recites the cult’s Talking Points Starter Pack, all while crying about “an idea with no basis in science or evidence.”
Guardian/Observer do a transphobia…again [Guardian]
- The ‘WPATH Files’ were quickly debunked [The Trans Agenda #4] but that hasn’t stopped all the usual right wing sites, publications and mouthpieces from running with it anyway. The Guardian, never one to miss a chance to kick some trans people, thought they would join in and paid Hannah Barnes to talk about something she clearly has not read critically and does not understand. For a quick idea of who Hannah Barnes is, if you don’t know already, she follows every anti-trans account imaginable on Twitter including Kathleen Stock, Sarah Philimore, Maya Forstater, Suzanne Moore, Janice Turner, Rosie Duffield, and Woman’s Place. It is an endless list of awfulness. There is no conceivable universe where The Guardian commissioned Barnes to write this piece expecting it to be an actual exploration of the ‘files’ and what they actually show. They knew what they would get and I’m sure they paid well for it.The Guardian’s role in legitimising hatred towards trans people cannot be understated. While it can be easy for many to dismiss what they read or hear from the extremes of the right, when a publication that is viewed as being of the left repeats the same lies, those lies are finally given credibility and that’s what every member of the cult craves.
TODAY’S PAPERS
Daily Mail
- The Daily Mail are unhappy that Stonewall received £1.1 million from taxpayers, constituting about 14% of its annual income, despite concerns from Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch regarding the value for money of such funding.
- Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered transgender school girl Brianna Ghey, disclosed her unexpected emotional connection with the family of one of Brianna’s killers during a recent encounter. Despite the harrowing circumstances surrounding her daughter’s death, Ghey engaged in discussions about parenting challenges with Scarlett Jenkinson’s mother.
Daily Telegraph
![Brianna’s mother hails ‘brave’ family of killer Esther Ghey says Emma Sutton ‘was brave to meet me ... as what she has gone through is terrible as well’ The Daily Telegraph11 Mar 2024By Will Bolton CRIME CORRESPONDENT Esther Ghey, the mother of Brianna, inset, said the family of her daughter’s killer ‘are very nice people, just normal people’ The mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has praised the family of her daughter’s killer for having the “bravery” to meet her. Esther Ghey met with Scarlett Jenkinson’s mother, Emma Sutton, to understand “her perspective” on the “horrific” crime. After the meeting, Ms Ghey, 37, said she could empathise with Ms Sutton, 49, and understood how, as a mother, someone would “never want to give up on their child”. She said: “You want to support them, regardless.” THE mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has praised the family of her daughter’s killer for having the “bravery” to meet her face to face. Esther Ghey met with Scarlett Jenkinson’s mother, Emma Sutton, to understand “her perspective” on the “horrific” crime. Following the meeting, Ms Ghey, 37, said she could empathise with Ms Sutton, 49, and understood how, as a mother, someone would “never want to give up on their child”. She said: “You will always have that maternal instinct there. You want to support them, regardless. “I just wanted to understand her perspective and to see basically what they’ve gone through as a family. “I think she was so brave to actually come and meet me.” She added the family “are very nice people, just normal people”. Jenkinson, now 16, was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years for the murder of her school friend, Brianna. Her co-accused Eddie Ratcliffe, also 16, was also handed a life sentence and told he must spend at least 20 years behind bars before being considered for release. Brianna was stabbed 28 times in the head, neck, chest and back after being lured to Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, on the afternoon of Feb 11 last year. Ms Ghey said she met Jenkinson’s mother because she wanted to understand “how they were as a family and what [Emma] had been going through”. Speaking to the BBC, she said: “What they’ve gone through is terrible as well. “They haven’t only lost a child, but they’ve also got to live with what’s happened now for the rest of their life.” She said Brianna’s murder and its impact on the families involved left her feeling she had a connection with Jenkinson’s mother. “Both of us are mothers who are trying to navigate something that nobody should ever have gone through.” When asked what she and Jenkinson’s family spoke about, Ms Ghey said she wanted to keep the majority of the “personal conversation” private. “We spoke about personal things and she was very open with me and she was so respectful as well,” she said. “It was a very emotional meeting but I’m so glad that I did it and I appreciate them for giving me that opportunity as well.” Brianna’s mother set up the Peace in Mind appeal seven months after the 16-year-old’s murder. It will enable school staff in Warrington and beyond to receive training on understanding the mental health and wellbeing support pupils need. Ms Ghey said that in the future she hoped Jenkinson’s mother would help with her campaign work. “I’d like her to join me and do something positive because I think it will be good for her healing as well – because it’s helped me so much.” Since Brianna’s murder, her mother has also been raising awareness of the dangers of mobile phone and social media use among children. She met the Prime Minister earlier this month for what she described as “positive” discussions. After the meetings, she said: “I understand how difficult it is being the parent to a teenager in this day and age. I think that there’s such pressure, and it’s so hard to know what your child’s doing now.” When asked whether she felt any anger, hate or resentment towards Jenkinson’s parents, Ms Ghey said she “genuinely didn’t feel any of them”. Article Name:Brianna’s mother hails ‘brave’ family of killer Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Will Bolton CRIME CORRESPONDENT Start Page:8 End Page:8 Trans rights activists plead with Scottish police to arrest Rowling The Daily Telegraph11 Mar 2024By Daniel Sanderson Scottish correspondent TRANS rights activists are attempting to have JK Rowling arrested by Scottish police over “misgendering” after a complaint was dismissed in England. Northumbria Police last week confirmed that it did not believe the Harry Potter author had committed a criminal offence by publicly calling India Willoughby, a transgender TV personality, a male. Willoughby had gone to police claiming Rowling had “definitely committed a crime” by referring to the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant as a member of their biological sex. The 58-year-old former newsreader has vowed to appeal against “their decision not to prosecute” and is to request a review of the decision. Meanwhile, Willoughby’s supporters claimed to have submitted complaints against Rowling, who lives in Edinburgh, to Police Scotland in the hope that the force will come to a different decision. In one complaint, published online, a user of X, formerly known as Twitter, said they had complained to Police Scotland and urged others to do the same. It alleged that Rowling had “misgendered Ms Willoughby repeatedly with intent to harass her, debase her, dehumanise her” risking inflicting “lasting psychological damage”. The complaint added: “Rowling’s motive for this attack is unambiguous – it’s because Ms Willoughby is trans.” Rowling has denied being transphobic, saying she believes people should be able to live their lives as they please. But she has said accepting that trans women are literally women, as trans activists claim, and giving them access to female-only spaces poses risks to the rights and safety of biological women. Scotland has a different legal system from England, with a hate crime law – passed by MSPS three years ago today – due to come into force on April 1. In a letter to Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, the Edinburgh-based policy analysis group Murray-Blackburn-Mackenzie (MBM) raised concerns about implementation of the new law, which creates a new offence of “stirring up hatred” against protected groups, including trans people. With weeks to go before the law comes into force, necessary legal orders have yet to be laid at Holyrood, raising fears of a lack of scrutiny or clarity about how it will work in practice. Some campaigners fear the law will be weaponised by trans rights campaigners to dilute freedom of speech. “Despite a clear promise made in the parliament… the government has done nothing to engage with those concerned about the impact of the Bill on freedom of expression on questions of sex and gender identity,” MBM said. Article Name:Trans rights activists plead with Scottish police to arrest Rowling Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Daniel Sanderson Scottish correspondent Start Page:8 End Page:8](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b70ed14-ab43-4ed0-8945-3a41867e9477_758x581.png "Brianna’s mother hails ‘brave’ family of killer Esther Ghey says Emma Sutton ‘was brave to meet me ... as what she has gone through is terrible as well’ The Daily Telegraph11 Mar 2024By Will Bolton CRIME CORRESPONDENT Esther Ghey, the mother of Brianna, inset, said the family of her daughter’s killer ‘are very nice people, just normal people’ The mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has praised the family of her daughter’s killer for having the “bravery” to meet her. Esther Ghey met with Scarlett Jenkinson’s mother, Emma Sutton, to understand “her perspective” on the “horrific” crime. After the meeting, Ms Ghey, 37, said she could empathise with Ms Sutton, 49, and understood how, as a mother, someone would “never want to give up on their child”. She said: “You want to support them, regardless.” THE mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has praised the family of her daughter’s killer for having the “bravery” to meet her face to face. Esther Ghey met with Scarlett Jenkinson’s mother, Emma Sutton, to understand “her perspective” on the “horrific” crime. Following the meeting, Ms Ghey, 37, said she could empathise with Ms Sutton, 49, and understood how, as a mother, someone would “never want to give up on their child”. She said: “You will always have that maternal instinct there. You want to support them, regardless. “I just wanted to understand her perspective and to see basically what they’ve gone through as a family. “I think she was so brave to actually come and meet me.” She added the family “are very nice people, just normal people”. Jenkinson, now 16, was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years for the murder of her school friend, Brianna. Her co-accused Eddie Ratcliffe, also 16, was also handed a life sentence and told he must spend at least 20 years behind bars before being considered for release. Brianna was stabbed 28 times in the head, neck, chest and back after being lured to Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, on the afternoon of Feb 11 last year. Ms Ghey said she met Jenkinson’s mother because she wanted to understand “how they were as a family and what [Emma] had been going through”. Speaking to the BBC, she said: “What they’ve gone through is terrible as well. “They haven’t only lost a child, but they’ve also got to live with what’s happened now for the rest of their life.” She said Brianna’s murder and its impact on the families involved left her feeling she had a connection with Jenkinson’s mother. “Both of us are mothers who are trying to navigate something that nobody should ever have gone through.” When asked what she and Jenkinson’s family spoke about, Ms Ghey said she wanted to keep the majority of the “personal conversation” private. “We spoke about personal things and she was very open with me and she was so respectful as well,” she said. “It was a very emotional meeting but I’m so glad that I did it and I appreciate them for giving me that opportunity as well.” Brianna’s mother set up the Peace in Mind appeal seven months after the 16-year-old’s murder. It will enable school staff in Warrington and beyond to receive training on understanding the mental health and wellbeing support pupils need. Ms Ghey said that in the future she hoped Jenkinson’s mother would help with her campaign work. “I’d like her to join me and do something positive because I think it will be good for her healing as well – because it’s helped me so much.” Since Brianna’s murder, her mother has also been raising awareness of the dangers of mobile phone and social media use among children. She met the Prime Minister earlier this month for what she described as “positive” discussions. After the meetings, she said: “I understand how difficult it is being the parent to a teenager in this day and age. I think that there’s such pressure, and it’s so hard to know what your child’s doing now.” When asked whether she felt any anger, hate or resentment towards Jenkinson’s parents, Ms Ghey said she “genuinely didn’t feel any of them”. Article Name:Brianna’s mother hails ‘brave’ family of killer Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Will Bolton CRIME CORRESPONDENT Start Page:8 End Page:8 Trans rights activists plead with Scottish police to arrest Rowling The Daily Telegraph11 Mar 2024By Daniel Sanderson Scottish correspondent TRANS rights activists are attempting to have JK Rowling arrested by Scottish police over “misgendering” after a complaint was dismissed in England. Northumbria Police last week confirmed that it did not believe the Harry Potter author had committed a criminal offence by publicly calling India Willoughby, a transgender TV personality, a male. Willoughby had gone to police claiming Rowling had “definitely committed a crime” by referring to the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant as a member of their biological sex. The 58-year-old former newsreader has vowed to appeal against “their decision not to prosecute” and is to request a review of the decision. Meanwhile, Willoughby’s supporters claimed to have submitted complaints against Rowling, who lives in Edinburgh, to Police Scotland in the hope that the force will come to a different decision. In one complaint, published online, a user of X, formerly known as Twitter, said they had complained to Police Scotland and urged others to do the same. It alleged that Rowling had “misgendered Ms Willoughby repeatedly with intent to harass her, debase her, dehumanise her” risking inflicting “lasting psychological damage”. The complaint added: “Rowling’s motive for this attack is unambiguous – it’s because Ms Willoughby is trans.” Rowling has denied being transphobic, saying she believes people should be able to live their lives as they please. But she has said accepting that trans women are literally women, as trans activists claim, and giving them access to female-only spaces poses risks to the rights and safety of biological women. Scotland has a different legal system from England, with a hate crime law – passed by MSPS three years ago today – due to come into force on April 1. In a letter to Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, the Edinburgh-based policy analysis group Murray-Blackburn-Mackenzie (MBM) raised concerns about implementation of the new law, which creates a new offence of “stirring up hatred” against protected groups, including trans people. With weeks to go before the law comes into force, necessary legal orders have yet to be laid at Holyrood, raising fears of a lack of scrutiny or clarity about how it will work in practice. Some campaigners fear the law will be weaponised by trans rights campaigners to dilute freedom of speech. “Despite a clear promise made in the parliament… the government has done nothing to engage with those concerned about the impact of the Bill on freedom of expression on questions of sex and gender identity,” MBM said. Article Name:Trans rights activists plead with Scottish police to arrest Rowling Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Daniel Sanderson Scottish correspondent Start Page:8 End Page:8")
- The Telegraph love to lump all their trans stories onto one page and today is no different, running with the same story as the Daily Mail on Esther Ghey followed by another on their GC Queen, JK Rowling, who spent Mother’s Day spouting nonsense about trans people in true Glinner-style.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
- Sits from 9.30am with education questions followed by the budget debate and a business motion.
WESTMINSTER HALL
- A debate from 4.30pm on prescription charges for people with chronic illnesses led by Labour’s Tonia Antoniazzi.
HOUSE OF LORDS
- Debate of the Digital Markets Bill amid attempts to amend it to prevent foreign takeovers of UK news media in a bid to stop the sale of the Telegraph to Redbird IMI [more below].
SPORT
Trans golfer Hailey Davidson slams decision to ban her from women’s tour: ‘bigotry will never win’ [Pink News]
AROUND THE WORLD
Prominent trans man shot dead [Them]
- 35-year-old Righteous Torrence “Chevy” Hill, a prominent figure in Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ community and owner of the Evollution salon, a safe and affirming space for young Black queer people, was tragically murdered at the end of February. It is not yet clear how Hill was murdered at the time of writing, 10 days after his death, and it has only been reported on local and queer sites. Hill’s death has sparked an outpouring of grief and tributes on social media. The Black trans advocacy organisation SnapCo emphasises the ongoing threat of gun violence and anti-trans sentiment. They urge the public to pledge their support for protecting Black and trans lives.The National Black Justice Coalition called on “Congress to pass the Chyna Gibson Stop the Transgender Murder Epidemic Act of 2023.”
ADF lobbies up [Politico Influence]
- Alliance Defending Freedom has registered its first federal lobbyists, according to a newly filed disclosure.
A bill anti-trans activist Riley Gaines said 90% of West Virginians agreed with failed to even go for a vote [Alejandra Caraballo]
- The ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ aims to ‘codify the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ to ‘protect single-sex spaces like restrooms and locker rooms’. Basically, a similar bill to the one Liz Truss is trying to push.
Minnesota becomes a sanctuary state [Governor Tim Walz]
- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz tweeted, “Today, I took executive action to protect access to gender-affirming health care in Minnesota. My message is clear: Here in Minnesota, our LGBTQ+ neighbors will not be denied or punished for seeking life-affirming and lifesaving medical care.” Extradition requests and subpoenas from states looking to criminalise trans people or their care providers will be refused. Erin Reed said that Minnesota would be “the first state to upgrade to dark blue, safest states in my map.”
Republican senator joins Democrats against transgender sports bill [Wisconsin Examiner]
- Republican Senator Joan Ballweg broke with her party to oppose a bill restricting transgender girls from competing on female sports teams in public and voucher schools. The bill mandates separate categories for sports teams based on sex assigned at birth. Ballweg’s opposition stems from her belief that local schools and athletic associations should manage the issue along with concerns about the heightened mental health risks for transgender youth.
Thousands rally after shocking attack on trans couple rattles Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greek LGBTQ community defiant: ‘We are not afraid’ [Variety]
- A shocking attack on a transgender couple in Thessaloniki’s central Aristotelous Square on Saturday evening has triggered widespread condemnation and a large protest highlighting Greece’s ongoing struggle with LGBTQ+ rights. The attack happened while the city’s annual Documentary Festival, which includes a focus on queer cinema, was underway and included “a mob of close to 200 black-clad youths”.Nine individuals have been jailed and face court on Monday for their alleged involvement in the harassment and assault of the two 21-year-old transgender people. Charges include abuse with bigoted intent, and two of the adults face additional assault charges for throwing bottles at the couple. 12 minors were also implicated and have been provisionally released pending trial. Police continue to seek additional suspects.
The incident sparked a rally attended by thousands, who carried rainbow flags and chanted slogans against homophobia and transphobia. Despite, or perhaps because of increased police presence, minor tensions and property damage occurred during the largely peaceful demonstration.
The attack underscores the persistent challenges faced by Greece’s LGBTQ community, even as the country recently legalised same-sex marriage. Filmmakers and activists at the festival expressed anger and dismay, telling Variety that legal protections do not eliminate deeply ingrained societal prejudices.
Thessaloniki’s mayor condemned the attack, highlighting the city’s values of acceptance. However, LGBTQ+ activists remain concerned, especially in the lead-up to EuroPride, a major European LGBTQ+ celebration slated for Thessaloniki in June. Activists have vowed to remain visible and defiant in the face of violence and hatred.
‘CULT’ WATCH
Maya Forstater and Liz Truss become besties
- As Liz Truss promotes her anti-trans private member’s bill, she’s pleased to see she has the support of her new bestie, Maya Forstater, who fully supports the bill Truss has pulled out of her ass. Of course, Forstater, whom Truss recently called ‘courageous’, was most likely intimately involved in the bill’s creation which also reeks of Tufton Street, where finances are shady and the LGB Alliance are based. From what I can see after a quick search, Truss had only ever replied to Forstater on Twitter once, back in 2020. In the last week, she’s quote tweeted her twice, both times with gushing praise.As we know, Truss, the very definition of a useful idiot, was recently in America, sharing her brand of insanity with some like-minded friends. Taking the stage at CPAC, she also gave an interview to Steve Bannon and sat silently as Bannon called Tommy Robinson a ‘hero’. Not long after Truss’s return to the UK, Robinson started popping up in places again, his particular ‘talents’ seemingly activated once more. First, he was shared around in a photo with racist Laurence Fox. Then, he was filmed being arrested, for doing something that he knew would get him arrested and said would get him arrested. He also brought his child with him knowing all this. They seem to have identified Robinson as another ‘useful idiot’ and have used Idiot-in-Chief, Liz Truss, to help them raise his profile.
Now, she’s also promoting Forstater and, by extension, Sex Matters.
While all of this is incredibly murky, one thing is clear; with an election on the horizon on both sides of the Atlantic, dark money is moving its pawns into place in both countries.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Met officer pleads guilty to distributing indecent images of children [Met Police]
- Another day, another ‘bad apple’. The whole bunch spoiled long ago.
Two Tory MPs nobody has heard of criticise plans for £1 million war memorial to honour Muslims who died in the world wars [Guardian]
- It should come as no surprise that both are ‘aligned’ with 30p Lee Anderson who was suspended for refusing to apologise after saying that ‘Islamists’ had ‘got control of London’ thanks to Sadiq Khan and his ‘mates’. As usual, former Tory ministers have chimed in asking why other religious groups don’t have memorials when they absolutely do already.
£35m pledged to boost maternity safety [UK Government]
- On Sunday, the government announced a £35m investment, spread over the next three years, to “ensure maternity services listen to and act on women’s experiences.” Two MPs names were linked with the announcement – Victoria Atkins and Maria Caulfield, both of whom would have people believe you can’t say ‘woman’ any more. Still, good to see them doing something that will actually help people for a change. Well, some people…
The Home Office has admitted it does not tell families when asylum seekers die in their care [Guardian]
Trump completes RNC takeover [Politico US Friday playbook]
- Lara Trump has been elected as the co-chair of the RNC ‘at the former president’s direction’. “With Trump’s blessing, [Chris] LaCivita is promising to enact sweeping changes and staffing moves at every level of the RNC to ensure it runs seamlessly as an extension of Trump campaign.”“This isn’t just about right versus left, Republican versus Democrat,” Lara Trump declared. “It’s about good versus evil.”
Portugal’s centre-right Democratic Alliance coalition claimed victory in an extraordinarily close election on Sunday in which the far right surged and no party secured a majority of seats in parliament [Politico]
COMING UP
- The government’s cruel restrictions on care workers bringing their families with them when they move to the UK come into force today.
- Ofcom and the CMA are due to publish the report into the proposed Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI takeover of the Telegraph newspaper. Any final decision is not expected before the general election.
- UK to host the Global Fraud Summit. They are, after all, experts in committing it.
AND FINALLY…
- Anti-trans nuggets aren’t known for being the smartest people on the planet, with brain worms a common affliction. How else do you explain getting your Willoughbys mixed up like this in a desperate bid to ‘own the transes’?
TRANSWRITES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
- Understanding the “WPATH Files” debate, by Lee Hurley.
- JK Rowling will be arrested, finally, by Gemma Stone.
- Sex Matters Director Helen Joyce reads porn of teenagers for “research”, by Gemma Stone.
- For Women Scotland case lost, what does it mean? By Jess O’Thomspon
RECOMMENDED READING
- What’s the truth about reconciliation in Northern Ireland? by Jess O’Thompson
- The right is running a dangerous scam under the banner of “women’s rights.” Don’t fall for it, by Allison Chapman
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