Off Topic Politics Thread

Telegram is a messaging app (like WhatsApp). I use it all the time - it is safe and not social media.

 

With sufficient funding separate facilities would be available for trans people. If policy has been wrongly applied and steps are being taken to correct it all to the good for those concerned.

 

Would there ever be sufficient funding though? The percentage of the population is so small I’m not sure there would be. It’s slightly similar to why suggestions of creating a trans category in sports is usually seen as a non starter. Although probably not the only reason why such an idea is not supported

 

Gov are already dropping infrastructure announced as part of the HS2 cancellation yesterday, including

£100m for mass transit in Bristol.

Development of the A259 from Bognor Regis to Southampton, looks like they meant to say Littlehampton and the road is already being redeveloped so they just slapped in on the list with a number of other ongoing or already completed projects.

Redevelopment of the Leamside line in the North East.

Can’t wait for this to turn into a mixture of:

- ‘What HS2 money?’

- Similar to the ‘new’ hospitals, a new vending machine will be redefined as a completely new train station.

- They will pretend existing and already completed infrastructure has been funded by HS2 cancellation.

Imo this was all rushed on the back of a *** packet so Rishi could rush out the HS2 cancellation, because he is desperately trying to throw **** at a wall to see what sticks.

Oh and they are backtracking on Euston now.

 

Look, I don't see what the big deal is. Sure, they have irreparably damaged the UK's economic and political standing, are degrading its essential services, and are now setting you up for decades of infrastructure decay and further backslides in standards of living. But all of that pales in comparison to the incredibly brave and important stand they have taken against people who put their pronouns in their email signature.

 

They haven’t even done that much on that front either. Not that they necessarily should of course

 

They haven't. It's just hilarious to see a speech where the PM attempts to soften to blow of the cancellation of a capstone economic development program by reassuring the public that they'll continue to misgender trans people.

 

"misgender trans people"

It's like a competition is going on to see who can make the most gormless expression and get away with it. And totally oblivious to how ridiculous they sound.

And is that mis gender or should it be mr gender? You have to be so careful these days.

Just in case anyone missed this gem. Brilliant.

 

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The bottom line, imo, is that all the press coverage given to trans people etc is nothing more than yet another smokescreen designed to get people talking about things that will, in general, have zero impact on their lives rather than talking about things that really do affect their lives.
If I remember correctly, just 0.5% of the UK population identifies as trans. In fact the person talking about this said, tongue in cheek, that “you are more likely to meet an Eskimo (shouldn’t she have said Inuit?) in Tesco than you are to meet someone who identifies as trans”.

 

It works, scapegoating. Get people really angry about... money lenders or people who want their genitalia changed... and then they ignore the crumbling economy.

 

And the covid inquiy findings and the list goes on and on and on.

 

The slight problem with the logic of “it’s only 0.5% of the population” is that can (and is) used as an argument for why certain things being changed for them. It can be applied in either direction - legislation specifically for and legislation / exceptions specifically against

 

I have seen arguments about accommodating trans people in hospitals, yet with such a low percentage of trans people they would probably need no more than 1 or 2 individual rooms. I guess what would make that a problem would be the shortage of beds in the NHS.

 

The only way trans people have really affected my life lately is the amount of time I spend in a professional capacity arguing with dickheads who say that they aren’t real.

This week, I have spent so much time and government resources dealing with parents about why it’s important to allow the children to read books that feature LGBT characters. It has honestly been disgusting. It would be way quicker to just say, “**** it, whatever you want, who cares?” But that’s not right. It’s also not the law. Our same government who engage in playground, dog whistle politics while the world burns around them, have asked that we teach about protected characteristics and the 2010 equality act (DfE, OFSTED). The law makes it illegal to discriminate against people who have any of the protected characteristics. That includes trans people. My time allowed to deliver this particular content (which is also packed full of SMSC, Fundamental British Values yummy goodness that OFSTED really want to see or they’ll kick your teeth in) is about 15-30mins every SIX weeks. It’s wholly insignificant. I’m not complaining about that constraint. There’s a lot of **** to do in a school year and I’m bloody fortunate if I get that much. It means I might manage a lesson about age, one about sex, one about families or civil partnerships, one neurodiversity/mental illness combo and possibly we’ll read My Princess Boy with Year 6. It’s about what’s fair in balance of curriculum between watching kids brush their teeth. (Oh yeah while I’m here: Kier, buddy, I was doing that in Leigh Park as an early career teacher a decade ago. Do better) To deliver that 15mins this half term, I have spent 8 hours (outside of my “contracted” hours. That’s a great joke too by the way.) in meetings this week alone trying to explain that I’m not trying to brainwash children. I’m just trying to provide a broad, government-appeasing library. The words gender reassignment appearing anywhere is enough to shake the tree and have all the lunatics fall out.

The coverage of trans people in politics and media has honestly rotten people’s ****ing minds. I’m trying to teach kids about how we should see others as equals, have empathy and compassion for others and to above all else feel able to express yourself without fear. In exchange, I get pages and pages of horrific correspondence and endless meetings where I attempt to placate bigots. It is absolutely the ****ing hate mob who are wasting everyone’s time with this. Shut the **** up, go build a ****ing train station. Get a ****ing life.

I’ll not read replies thanks, because, that’s what I’ve been up to and I couldn’t give a bees dick what any of you think really! Likes only folks! Byeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

Shame the mini Hitler’s running around happily bullying a minority of people are empowered by our leaders.

Don’t get me wrong there are valid discussions to be had about how you best enhance the rights of trans people whilst not infringing on other peoples rights and I also think it’s not realistic to swap category for contact sport because you can’t fully mitigate the physical advantages/disadvantages of your birth sex.

I also have misgivings about any form of irreversible change being permitted before 18.

But the way this discussion is going is denial and risks going into eradication, I mean we are literally in the ‘you don’t exist’ phase.

No mistake the politicians and media figures who are exploiting this are the people who would have fought against civil rights and clamped down on gay people in the past, it’s all about punching down and that is the quality of people we are dealing with here.

Happy to persecute for popularity and political advantage.

The kind of people this country fought wars to stop.

 

The type of politicians who are exploiting this would have walked shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

 

There are two points that I take from your posts. 1. You shouldn't be concerned about this issue, there are more important things to worry about. 2. You're being used by the government to hide their failures but you can't see it.
You are quite entitled to your opinions of course but I find them both condescending and you give no acknowledgement that there are people with different views who actually know what they are talking about rather than being manipulated.

Although you don't feel this is a problem, many people particularly women, do and I think you are wrong to suggest they should worry about something else instead. In any case people are capable of having concerns about more than one thing at a time. I think that anyone who is female or has a female relative should at least familiarise themselves with the consequences of accepting that men can be women. There are/were a number of different areas that should concern people, particularly parents of young children.

Schools
Surgery and puberty blockers
Women's and girl's spaces
Women's sport
Male sex offenders in women's prisons
Health care at home and in hospitals
Women only short lists
Rape and domestic violence centres

If you still think the so called trans movement will have zero impact on most of the population I would say you are seriously underestimating the situation.

Some of the problems in the areas above are now being addressed and that is precisely because women have cared about these issues, organised and lobbied politicians.
You may think that the current rise in publicity about this is a smokescreen devised to deflect away from their failures but I would suggest that the Tories unlike Labour have realised that it is an issue among many women. Can Labour afford to ignore the growing number of women's rights groups established because of this alone?

 

Whether you want a reply or not you're still getting one.

And you're a teacher? God help those poor kids.
You're the problem.