Rosie Duffield, a survivor of domestic abuse and the current MP for Canterbury, a seat she won for Labour from the Tories in 2017, has described being in the Labour Party as akin to an abusive relationship. She wrote: “When I come home at night, I feel low-level trauma at my political isolation.”
One might ask why an incredible woman who was returned to Parliament with an increased majority is feeling the way she is, or what has she done to be facing so much abuse from her own? The answer to that question is a depressing one — in the Commons last week, she backed the Government’s decision to block the Scottish parliament’s gender identification legislation. She was unable to get through her speech because she was being shouted down by fellow Labour MPs.
The legislation put forward by the Scottish government would allow Scots as young as 16 to change their legal sex by signing a statutory declaration, removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. That would mean anyone born or resident in Scotland could use the system, potentially opening the door to “gender tourism” in which people from England could temporarily move north of the border to exploit the provisions.
The legislation was and is ridiculous.It is flawed on many levels and the Government is right to block it. And what is not right is the abuse female MPs who back the Government are getting.
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has spoken about the abuse Duffield was subjected to and said debates should be conducted “respectfully and with tolerance”. There was no defence of a woman who was doing her job and standing up for the women and girls whom Labour seems to be sidelining.
Starmer needs to challenge the abuse of women in Labour who are raising valid questions about bad legislation. To call for respect and tolerance suggest to me that he thinks women speaking the truth are as bad as those threatening them, which is a dangerous situation for the party to be in.
What gender-critical feminists are saying is something I agree with — that the safety, dignity and privacy of women and girls are improved when single-sex provision is available. Eradicating such provision is not progressive, nor is it justified in a society where violence against one sex primarily by the other is the experience of millions of women and girls.
Eroding sexual boundaries does not erode the reality of biological sex and the oppression that comes with it. It just puts women at a disadvantage, in the name of a misguided idea of progress which is just a dressed-up 21st-century misogyny. Women should be able to sit in Parliament without fear say what they believe without being shouted down.
Labour needs to get its act together. When it comes to defending the protection given to women under the Equalities Act, the Government is on the right side of history on this one.
Jacinda the brave
Jacinda Ardern resigned as prime minister of New Zealand because, she said, she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job.” As she spoke these words at a press conference, many women around the world knew what she meant and many of us congratulated her for her honesty and bravery.
I know what it is like to hit the wall and to force yourself to keep going, especially when your job is to look after other people.
Politics, like activism, is consuming and a rest is as rare as gratitude. So while many joke about Jacinda not being able to cut it, the truth is she showed real strength in stepping back because to put yourself and your health first is a revolutionary act.
I know when she is back on the world stage again she will be back with force. I wish her well and I also hope women and men see that stepping back is not a sign of weakness and that sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is take a break.
It has made a better leader in the work that I do to end FGM.
