The party membership voted this down and even from across party lines I take no joy in seeing this sorry state of affairs, I can only imagine how painful this must be. Respect.

Yes, that was the exact moment I turned off the radio. Stated as fact, no pushback from either guest.

I suspect we won't ever see eye to eye, but my position is always emancipatory. Dismantling capitalism or white supremacy will ultimately be good even for those who currently benefit from them. The same is true of patriarchy - which is exactly why it needs dismantling. Thanks for the conversation.

The universality of patriarchy is an argument for dismantling it, not accepting it as nature. We have all experienced violent, abusive men. I'm not denying that reality, I just think attacking minorities is not the solution some believe it to be.

It's also not true that 'it's how we've survived' - anthropology shows huge cultural variation in gender & violence. Queer theory challenges the rigid gender roles that underpin patriarchy. Dismantling those roles addresses male violence, not policing who uses which bathroom.

If male violence is 'biological', it can't be challenged, only managed. That's a conservative position, not a emancipatory one. Feminism argues that male violence is a product of patriarchal socialisation, not inevitability - because if it's inevitable, women's liberation becomes impossible.

Women's oppression is not a result of their biology but of structural inequality. Male violence isn't because of their biology either, although it is a crisis we urgently need to address. Ideology which tells young men they are a danger because of some biological inevitability is not the solution.

What you've done is create entirely fictional enemies. Anti-landlordism was central to the labour movement for many years. Nobody believes Labour 'caused genocide', but they're standing by as one takes place. I don't think obsessing over genitals is a particularly feminist standpoint either!

Exactly this. Describing fairly conventional leftist policy as extremist is a terrible position for the leader of the Labour party to be in. He is clueless.

When our two-party system consisted of the Liberals and the Tories, people said the same about the Labour party. In any case, multiple parties and coalitions are the norm in most other European democracies. We need to change our way of thinking.

Interestingly, the Guardian changed their headline to 'better reflect the article's text' - because the text is actually quite balanced, has quotes from the parties involved, and makes it clear that the MP's visit has already been re-arranged.

Yup, I think you're absolutely right on that one. Starmer has a couple of years to row back from his kowtowing to the Reform agenda. I still don't think a few extra Green seats would be the problem, though.

It will be devastating if it comes to pass, but blaming the Greens who have been consistent on policy rather than the Labour party, who frankly are feeding the Reform fire with all the weird nationalism is an odd thing to do in my eyes. If Labour want to get elected again, they need to be electable!

Thing is, a genuine multi-party democracy is better for democratic representation than our broken two-party system. Reform helped Starmer to win, for sure, but the Tories are down and out completely now. Two of the Greens' seats were won from Tories so the transfer of votes is less clear.

I think you'd be hard pushed to suggest a vote for the Greens allowed Starmer to get in (!)

Just a reminder that the West destroyed Iran’s progressive democracy in 1953, deposing a leader beloved of the people, and installed a dictatorship in his place. The US and UK have been terrorising that country for as long as any of us have been alive. It’s sick.

It is sorted by number of seats not vote share , so - Greens take a higher share of the vote than the nationalist parties, but will always pick up fewer seats because of the distribution of the vote 😕

The UK being governed by and for cisheteropatriarchal ableist white nationalists continues!

Adolescence and the Lost Truths: Why save masculinity when you could save men? — Dr Finn Mackay We are barely out of International Women’s History Month and everyone is talking about the crisis of masculinity, yet again. It seems there has never been a time that masculinity has not been in crisi...

Stop focusing on masculinity & start focusing on human rights www.drfinnmackay.co.uk/blog/adolesc...

The fact that the USA has banned visas for trans people but welcomed rapist Andrew Tate shows how all this "defending women" stuff is total bullshit

It is deeply scarred by its history, but SA is also full of radical, brilliant people who believe deeply in liberation and are horrified by the loss of someone who created such an important space. Your comment doesn't help anything when people are grieving

Unless Elon applied to keep his SA citizenship when he applied for his other citizenships, he will have automatically lost his SA citizenship. Ironically the only place to legally send him might be Canada now... Or Mars, yess 🙏

ART is funded by the state in South Africa, although the support staff and services - particularly those for MSM and trans people - are funded by PEPFAR. Some of our neighbours in Southern Africa are entirely reliant on PEPFAR for all medication, so they have it much worse than we do. Unforgivable

Dark Times as MSM and Trans Health Services Shut Down Across South Africa America's shocking suspension of foreign funding has thrown South African organisations serving MSM and transgender communities into chaos.

Our local clinic for MSM called to cancel all appointments, and it's the same across South Africa. Staff are being retrenched. Obviously I'm not pretending this is equivalent to ART being withdrawn in the poorest nations, but the cuts are far-reaching www.mambaonline.com/2025/01/28/d...

Also like pretty much every new build school I've taught in

Regrettably and predictably I suspect it is in the Scottish print edition of the Times, since it is on their website 😕

Yes I was there close to it opening. Dreadful experience - absolutely freezing. You enter through what is clearly still a carpark and it doesn't get better thereafter. Odd shaped rooms. It's not even a 'converted' Ikea, it's just... an empty Ikea. Money grab, as you say.

How a populist think tank is stoking Scotland's culture war MCC Brussels, a think tank funded by Hungary's populist government, is working with academics and campaigners with influence in Scotland.

“They aim to create suspicion and fear and to convince the people that liberal democracy, with its respect for individual human rights, is a less attractive political option than majoritarianism and authoritarian rule”
theferret.scot/orban-conservative-think...