#english politics

[thefiresofpompeii]

not nearly enough people are fuming about the cass review. do you understand the eventual implications? trans people in the uk will be considered children up until the age of 25, and denied HRT/surgery/even basic measures like legal name change and social transition. all owing to a biased and largely unscientific study. you know what “treatment” for gender dysphoria is recommended by the review instead? conversion therapy.

this will kill people and they know it, because they prefer us dead and out of sight. the government, the NHS and even the opposition have made this clear again and again. a twenty-five year old can have sex, get married have children, join the military, earn a living, be halfway up the corporate ladder or highly successful in their chosen career field by that age, but they can’t transition under NHS rules. this is a death sentence for trans teenagers and they are going ahead with it. it’s trans genocide, same as across the pond.

i’m so afraid for my trans siblings and our futures. i’m so scared for myself. what are we to do if not even the party that is supposed to be on the “left” gives a shit about our safety and mental health as long as they get voted in? labour have become tories with a red coat of paint. it all feels hopeless

#trans #trans rights #transgender #trans genocide #uk politics #british #british politics #lgbtq #queer rights #jamie.txt #tw transphobia #tw transmisogyny #english politics #transfem #transmasc #trans pride

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

So, the DfE have released their non-statutory guidance for schools on "gender questioning children". I know much has been made of the idea of outing trans children to their parents, but I think the guidance actually has far more concerning sections. And by concerning I mean "deeply transphobic and fucked up".

I know some people are happy it's non statutory, but let's be explicit, this document is transphobic, it's dogwhistle politics, and it's existence will directly harm trans people.

Ironically, the DfE's own lawyers have advised that this guidance is likely illegal and contravenes the equality act.

I think the idea that there are lots of students who are fully transitioned in school but not out at all at home is a bit of a strawman from both sides. In my experience (and I've mentioned this on tumblr before), a school would not normally encourage this if a student was genuinely at risk at home if outed, because even if all the teachers knew not to out the students, you can't control the behaviour of other students/parents etc. I think it's a bit of a right wing scare tactic "Schools are transitioning your kids without your consent". It's a fascist dog whistle.

In my experience as a teacher, the vast majority of trans kids I've taught were transitioning socially at home and school. Some did only use their chosen name/pronouns in school, but parents were aware.

But this straw man has been used to build a document which is deeply transphobic and wide reaching and will defacto exclude some trans kids from school, or from school sports, or from attending a school where they feel comfortable.

Trans kids exist. Kids can know they are trans from a young age, and there is no harm to anyone from allowing social transition at a young age. Some kids transition back to their assigned gender at birth. That doesn't mean anyone was harmed. But this guidance explicitly presents the idea of transition as both harmful to the person transitioning and those around them. Which is fucked up.

The new guidance has some really concerning bits in it which will seriously negatively impact all trans students. Here are some quotes below, with my comments in italics. Please note I'm quoting directly from a document that uses transphobic language:

-Primary school aged children should not have different pronouns to their sex-based pronouns used about them. (This is fucked, I cannot stress how fucked this is. These kids exist and simply pretending they don't is awful in the extreme. The idea that children can't socially transition at primary school is really messed up. )

-schools and colleges should only agree to a change of pronouns if they are confident that the benefit to the individual child outweighs the impact on the school community. It is expected that there will be very few occasions in which a school or college will be able to agree to a change of pronouns. On these rare occasions, no teacher or pupil should be compelled to use these preferred pronouns. (How does a child using pronouns of choice impact the school community? It doesn't? In my experience, teens are much more accepting of trans classmates than some adults. Also giving teachers explicit permission to misgender kids is fucking dangerous).

-schools and colleges should exhaust all other options, such as using firstnames, to avoid requiring other individuals having to use preferred pronouns. (My initial response to this was "why the fuck" but a trans friend commented that the purpose is to make trans people's lives as difficult and as miserable as possible, and they're going after the most vulnerable trans people- trans kids)

-If a child does not want to use the toilet designated for their biological sex, and the school or college has considered all the relevant factors outlined above, they may wish to consider whether they can provide or offer the use of an alternative toilet facility. (this is weird because I'm pretty sure it contravenes the equality act, I'm pretty sure there is a legal duty on schools, and certainly colleges where over 18s attend to provide gender neutral toilet facilities if required. Also, not having an appropriate toilet defacto excludes children from school).

-Schools may have different uniform requirements for girls and boys. Some specify which uniform items are for girls and which are for boys, and similarly some schools have hairstyle rules which differ by sex. A child who is gender questioning should, in general, be held to the same uniform standards as other children of their sex at their school and schools may set clear rules to this effect. (So some schools could, for example, force a trans boy or non binary student to wear a skirt. Which is unfair and messed up. To be honest, I think sex segregated uniforms belong in the dark ages anyway, but this is just ridiculous.).

-There is no general duty to allow a child to ‘social transition’. (Firstly, there legally is. Secondly, why would a school not want to? This just gives licence to transphobic heads to say "oh, no, we won't allow you to transition", which is illegal, but the whole thing is just such a fucking mess. And again, why? Why would you not allow a child to transition socially? Unless you want to pretend that trans children don't exist?)

If you want to read the full guidance, it's available here, but trigger warnings etc do apply: https://consult.education.gov.uk/equalities-political-impartiality-anti-bullying-team/gender-questioning-children-proposed-guidance/supporting_documents/Gender%20Questioning%20Children%20%20nonstatutory%20guidance.pdf

Yes, the guidance is non-statutory, so in theory schools could ignore it, but in reality, OFSTED etc can use non-statutory guidance as a stick to beat schools with. At this stage, I think we all know the OFSTED don't give a fuck about anyone's mental health or wellbeing.

Interestingly, even the DfE's own lawyers have admitted the advice could open schools up to a legal challenge. This SchoolsWeek article on the topic is super interesting: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/trans-guidance-dfe-lawyers-said-schools-face-high-risk-of-being-sued/

Anyway, whilst the fact it's non statutory is something, this is not the victory some people are making it out to be, and the fact a document encouraging misgendering children has been published at all is fucked. This document could very much be used to prevent children from transitioning, and will likely prevent some children who have transitioned from attending school.

#uk politics #english politics #education #trans rights #trans children #fuck the dfe #tw: transphobia #tw: fascism

[phd-in-bears]

Monarchies are only fun in fiction. But overthrowing a monarchy in real life could be very fun

#uk politics #king charles news #bbc #england #english politics #we should have stolen all our stuff back from the museum when they werent looking #princess diana #kate middleton #camilla #charles #king #queen #down with the monarchy #i was secretly hoping King Arthur would come back at that moment #could you imagine #uk #politics #uk police #scotland

[reluctantjoe]

TOM ROSENTHAL Banged Up: Stars Behind Bars | E3

#tom rosenthal #banged up #banged up: stars behind bars #banged up stars behind bars #dailyflicks #filmtvdaily #tvfilmsource #televisiongifs #tvgifs #tvedit #televisionedit #progressives #leftists #leftism #left wing #politics #uk politics #english politics #prison abolition #prison system #tagging this under uk politics and such 'cause fuck it #tom rosenthal always right <3 #rj: gifset #rj: banged up: stars behind bars #rj: tom rosenthal #rj: 2023 #is there a world without the love of queue?

[shitpostingfromthebarricade]

England solves the first of these two problems. She creates wealth admirably; she distributes it badly. This solution, which is complete only on one side, leads her inevitably to two extremes: monstrous opulence, monstrous misery. All the enjoyment to a few, all the privation to the rest, that is to say, to the people; privilege, exception, monopoly, feudality, springing from labor itself. A false and dangerous situation that founds public power upon private misery, which plants the grandeur of the state in the suffering of the individual. A grandeur ill constituted, in which all the material elements are combined, and into which no moral element enters.

[...]

Solve merely the first of the two problems, you will be Venice or England. Like Venice you will have an artificial power, or like English material power; you will be the evil rich. You will perish by violence, as Venice died, or by bankruptcy, as England will. And the world will let you die and fall, because the world lets everything fall and die that is nothing but selfishness, everything that does not represent a virtue or an idea or the human race.

Of course, it is understood that by these words, Venice, England, we do not mean the people, but the social constructions; the oligarchies superimposed on the nations, not the nations themselves. The nations always have our respect and our sympathy. Venice the people, will be reborn; England, the aristocracy, will fall, but England, the nation, is immortal.

— Les Miserables (FMA), 4.1.4

#no reason at all #uk politics #english politics #les mis #british royal family #I'm not English I just think working class people in the UK should be allowed to live #without eating moldy food or climbing into tauntauns to escape the cold #shitposting through les mis

[of-monsters-and-werewolves]

Brassed Off! doesn't pull any fucking punches about the immediate effects of the pit closures. It doesn't shy away from the reality of people's lives, whereby the fate of the workers was either death by coal or death by poverty. And yes, people absolutely did kill themselves as a result. It wasn't done out of care for the workers' safety or health; it wasn't done for environmental reasons, they didn't gi a shit.

Cannot emphasise enough that the ramifications are still felt to this day. Of course it has. How could it not? You take towns and villages structured around mining, whose primary income as a region was mining, and expect the North to not be completely fucked when you stop mining, whilst providing the equivalence of pittance as compensation and doing sod all to improve the region afterwards? Fuck off. The influence mining had on large parts of the North can't be understated; even fucking now 30-40 years later. You feel that effect everywhere - everything's built on former mines, there's symbols of it everywhere, stories told by everyone over a certain age. Poor health, poverty, Westminster not gi ing two shits oh that sounds familiar.

If you're not British and you've heard about Thatcher's policies about closing the mines, primarily in the North of England, and want a film that explores it, watch Brassed Off!

If you're British but from a middle class background or live in the South of England or elsewhere where mining was nowhere near as prevalant an industry and you're wondering how the North could possibly still be as fucked as it is, watch Brassed Off!

If you've ever wondered why workers doing a job as dangerous as coal mining were so pissed at the Tories for closing the pits, watch Brassed Off!

#brassed off! #uk politics #brassed off #fuck thatcher #maggie thatcher #margaret thatcher #uk working class #english politics #british politics

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

hello and welcome back to kais blog is just more awful english politics news (:

[Alt Text:]

Fines during Covid pandemic three times more likely to be given to black people in England and Wales

Exclusive: research is most detailed yet of who got fined and fairness of use of police power to enforce rules

Vikram Dodd, 31/05/2023

Fines during the pandemic were three times more likely to be given to black people and seven times more likely to be issued in the poorest areas, research commissioned for Britain’s police chiefs has revealed.

The study covering England and Wales showed racial disparity for every single force. In one area, ethnic minorities were up to eight times more likely to be fined. It presents further evidence of ethnic disparity in the use of police powers. Most forces deny they are institutionally racist, as does the government.

The report was commissioned by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and conducted by academics at the University of Edinburgh. The NPPC did not publish the findings, to the surprise of those who produced it.

The report’s co-author Prof Susan McVie said: “There was not a single force area that did not have a higher disparity rate for ethnic minority groups.”

Andy George, president of the National Black Police Association, said: “The research highlights yet again that policing has a systemic issue with racism which needs to be admitted and dealt with.”

The study also found people living in the poorest areas were more likely to experience fines than those in the wealthiest areas.

Policing claims it is committed to a race action plan, triggered by the mass protests after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in the US in May 2020. Critics say three years on policing in the UK has achieved little or nothing.

full article here

so like tl/dr: this is a water is wet article and study. as soon as they began fining people during lockdown, we knew that poc were going to be targeted more than white folks.

weve known the police system in england and wales has systemic racism issues for decades. at least since the murder of stephen lawrence in 93.

and obviously, water is wet studies are still important because we can then point to them as empirical evidence when discussing politics and public policy, etc.

but whats very important to mention is that despite commissioning this study, the national police chief's council decided to not publish it. the npcc is the representative body for police chiefs in britain, and unsurprisingly, they decided to just not release the evidence of systemic racism that they found.

dont you love living in this "democratic" country where peaceful protest is illegal, politicians tell poor people to just not eat if they cant afford food, and the police specifically hide clear evidence of institutional racism?

#ukpol #uk police #uk politics #british politics #britpol #british police #systemic racism #institutional racism #covid fines #covid #lockdown #npcc #stephen lawrence #the guardian #vikram dodd #susan mcvie #andy george #england #english politics #english police #acab #england and wales #national black police association #covid inquiry #if im missing any tags please let me know and ill add them

[rebel-by-default]

The thing that drives me insane about the latest Matt Hancock scandal is the fact that they're discussing government business... on WhatsApp.

Normal WhatsApp accounts are not meant for business use. The Terms of Service prohibit "any non-personal use of our Services unless otherwise authorized by us" - and yet the UK Government considers it perfectly acceptable to discuss Covid measures on WhatsApp, where records can easily be deleted, obfuscated, or leaked and shared.

People are busy discussing the content of Matt Hancock's messages, but also remember that the UK Government is currently handling parliamentary business on personal WhatsApp accounts, and then making excuses when messages "mysteriously disappear."

The whole thing is ridiculous.

#uk politics #matt hancock #whatsapp #honestly it is unbelievable #politics #current affairs #current affairs 2023 #uk #england #britain #english politics

[klavierpanda]

Just found out this article exists. I have no words

#uk politics #english politics #uk #england #panda's post

[theclasscalico]

Do excuse all of the politics, I know that I don't typically post content of this nature here, but it's also disgusting that so many anti-monarchy protestors were arrested during the corronation.

#Serious #Politics #UK politics #British politics #English politics #Mine

[dinolil1]

Man, I recommend voting Greens in the next election if you’re in England. Tories and Labour care fuck all, and there’s wnough of us to send a message. Support trans people or fuck off.

#english politics #british politics #england #britpol #uk news

[loz37]

#funny #politics #british politics #british #english #rishi sunak #english politics #the world we live in #monday #monday mood #the world is ending #tories #fuck the tories #tories out #anti tories #if you dont laugh you'll cry

[northern-punk-lad]

The thing is socialist have been arguing if labour is really a socialist party since the beginning of the party many prominent socialist like Orwell did not consider the Labour Party socialist

#uk politics #english politics

[thomaspaine1737]

Burke Call Out Post (& my opinion)

I get that everyone likes to goad each other right now but @burkedmond has gone too far. Literally not a single French person cared about the English parliament, yet Burke attacked France unprovoked anyway. The fact that he did so publicly and online is the first reason why I can’t forgive him for his lack of manners and misunderstanding of policy.

The first receipt is how Burke describes the French. He wrote with literally nothing but rancor, prejudice, and ignorance. He may have well gone on for 1000 pages for the way he wrote in incomprehensible passion. Thankfully ranters can only write with that level of emotion for so long. But Burke is wrong in his opinions about France, but I guess that shows the creativeness of his hope (or the nastiness of his despair) that he will just make things up as he goes on.

There was a time when it was impossible to make Burke believe there would be any revolution in France. His opinion was that the French didn’t have the “spirit” to start or the strength to continue. Now that they’ve proven they can do both, he is trying to backtrack by condemning the revolution itself.

And because he interjected, so will I.

Every age and generation are free to act as they wish—in all cases, exactly like the generations before them. The vanity and audacity of governing beyond the grave is the most ridiculous and disrespectful tyranny. No one should own each other—no generation owns the next. Every generation must make the decisions which affect them in that moment. It is the living, not the dead, that should be thought of. When you die, that’s it! You don’t get to direct the world, who should/shouldn’t be governor, how the laws are enforced, or government as a whole.

I’m not specifically writing about any government or party in general. When a whole nation decides to do something, they can do it. Of course, Burke says no to that. But where, then, does that right exist? All I’m arguing for is the rights of the living and that no one should be spoken for by the so-called dead. Meanwhile, Burke wants the dead to have power over the rights and freedoms of the living!

My second receipt is Burke’s statement: “we see the French rebel against a mild and lawful monarch. They’ve done so with more insult than any rebellion before them.”

This is one among a thousand instances where Burke shows that he is ignorant of what is happening in France.

It’s not Louis XVI that they’re rebelling against, but the tyranny which he represents. The oppression didn’t start with him, but from the original government however many centuries ago. They are too deeply routed to be removed by anything short of a complete and universal revolution. When it becomes necessary to do a thing, the whole heart and soul should go into it, or why even try? Hence, when the crisis arrived, there was no choice but to act, or to not act at all.

Sure, the King was known to be a friend of the nation. Even though he was raised to be an absolute power, he may be the only monarch who didn’t wield it. Even so, the principles of the government are still the same. The monarch and monarchy are separated. It’s not because of the King, but the system, that this revolution started.

But…Burke doesn’t see any difference between principles and people, apparently. If Burke can’t grasp this separation, he is not qualified to judge. It takes in a field too large for his views and is too reasonable for him to understand.

So let me spell it out for him: the abuse of power in the system is everywhere. Every office and department have its despotism ingrained through custom and habit. The original oppression may have started with a King, but it has divided and subdivided into a thousand shapes and forms until they all act as a single group. There is no single source and no single solution. It’s strengthened through the myth of “duty” and tyrannizes under the idea of “obeying.” Between the monarchy, parliament, and church there is practically a rivalry of despotism.

Yet, Burke still sees the King as the only reason to revolt. He acts like France is a village, like every decision will pass by the King and there could be no oppression outside his choices. But Burke could be a Frenchman in his or his father’s time, living on the steps of the palace itself and they would have never known he existed.

What Burke thinks is an insult to the French revolution is actually a compliment. While other revolts start with hatred, the French revolution began with rational contemplation of the rights of men and can actually tell the difference between principles and people.

But Burke seems to have no idea about principles when he talks about government. He wrote, “ten years ago I could have congratulated France on having a government without asking what the government was or how it was applied.”

Is this the language of a rational person? Is this the language of a heart feeling as it should for the rights and happiness of humanity? By Burke’s logic, he should compliment every government in the world while the victims who suffer under them, sold into slavery or tortured out of existence, are entirely forgotten. It’s power not principles that Burke worships. And as such, he is not qualified to judge the French.

As for the tragic picture that Burke pulls from his imagination to sway his readers: they are well constructed theatrical representations created to make people feel bad for the monarchs. But perhaps I should remind Burke that he is writing history and not Plays. His readers deserve truth.

We see a man dramatically lamenting in a space designed for serious discussion. He says that “The age of chivalry is gone!” that “the glory of Europe is extinguished forever” that “the unbought grace of life” (if anyone knows what that means) “the cheap defense of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise is gone!” And all this because the mindless era of chivalry is gone. What opinion can we really form of his judgement? When we see this, what can we think of his facts?

In his imagination, he has discovered a world of orcs, and his only sadness is that there are no little hobbits to attack them. If aristocracy and chivalry fall, and they had some connection originally, then Burke may continue his parody to the end, claiming that life is over.

Burke’s fairy tales aside, when the French revolution is compared to other revolutions, it will surprise everyone at how few sacrifices were made. And perhaps the surprise will end when we think principles and not people were what caused all this destruction. The mind of France was pushed to rebellion not by any person, and they went for a goal so great that it could not be achieved by the downfall of a single enemy.

#French revolution #France #Edmond burke #history #Thomas Paine #English Politics #Unreality #Historical #School project

[reluctantjoe]

TOM ROSENTHAL Banged Up: Stars Behind Bars | E4

#tom rosenthal #banged up #banged up: stars behind bars #banged up stars behind bars #dailyflicks #filmtvdaily #tvfilmsource #televisiongifs #tvgifs #tvedit #televisionedit #prison abolition #uk politics #politics #english politics #prison system #progressives #leftists #leftism #left wing #rj: gifset #rj: banged up: stars behind bars #rj: tom rosenthal #rj: 2023 #is there a world without the love of queue?

[neurodivergent-aroace-64]

Are any of you guys listening to radia 4 right now? Because Nicola Sturgoen just fully destroyed every Terf in the country,, they all just exploded

#nicola sturgeon #gender recognition act #scottish politics #uk politics #english politics