Where Do We Go From Here?

 

When For Women Scotland won the appeal against the Scottish Government which in turn, cemented and clarified in law what we already knew, that women were and have always been biological women; I innocently thought that the fight had, not been won, but that we could move forward on the basis that the ruling would be adhered to.

Oh sweet summer child.

Some organisations have capitulated, the Transit Police for example rolling back their ridiculous decision to give biological men the power to strip search women. 

Crimes will no longer recorded as chosen sex, but the person’s actual sex (although I note some crimes go reported with no sex at all listed).

Many sport associations are no longer allowing men into women’s sports.

What has become apparently however, is that the powers that be simply don’t care about the ruling.

Unison, the country’s biggest union recently allowed a biological man to run for a female seat.  The Labour Women’s Conference has been postponed.   Some NHS Trusts and Local Councils are blatantly ignoring the ruling, still allowing men into women’s toilets and changing rooms, claiming that they need “further guidance”.

What further guidance is needed I ask?  Men cannot ever become biological women or be acknowledged as being so.  So says the Supreme Court.  They therefore do not belong in women’s spaces.

What these organisations are telling us, what the Labour Government is telling us (see also the text messages spread around by MPs after the ruling) is that they do not care.  The ruling means nothing to them and they intend to carry on as they wish.

For Women Scotland went through two judicial reviews and an appeal at the Supreme Court, expending over two hundred thousand pounds in the process to get there, not to mention hundreds of hours of time; only for us now to effectively be told that it doesn’t matter.

So what does this mean for women’s rights? When we win in the highest Court in the land, yet that ruling is simply ignored by those who wish to.

I think in some places the ruling was welcome.  I do not believe that many sport associations wanted a crossover of men in women’s sports, effectively ruining every sport that they entered.  But for many other organisations, Trusts, Councils, the Government; it clearly was not.

The trans agenda brings profit.  It allows control.  It brings a distraction when needed for the Government to wield. 

The trans agenda was welcomed, encouraged, assisted and promoted by those in power because it is useful to them.  Because they have their own agenda.  Why else let organisations mutilate children’s bodies with drugs that stem their growth and reduce their bone density.  Why else tell children that they can be born into the wrong body and that there is a quick fix to all their problems.   Why else wave through women’s bathrooms being made into gender neutral, allow men in our changing rooms and our rape crisis centres, removing our safety and safe spaces in the process.

What do we do now in the question?  Someone brings a Court case for each time the Supreme Court is ignored?  They know that this is going to be an impossible feat, not just from a financial point of view, or the time involved; but also because we now have to wonder, is there any point?

If the Supreme Court are to be ignored which it appears in many cases that they are being, how can we fight this?  Especially when our own Government clearly did not want the ruling and by “postponing” the Women’s Conference, they have made their stance quite clear. 

What I fear is that this will now escalate.  I fear that they will do away with the Equality Act all together, rewriting it so as to make the rights of men who pose and cos play as women, front and centre.

What I see is that the Government allowed this ruling to change the situation in things like sports, but had no intention of following through with anything else.  Which poses the question. 

How far down this rabbit hole of hell are we going to go?

I've Had It, Just Vote!

So.  This is a ranting and yes, most probably patronising and frankly you may think "she is a bitch"post in parts, but honestly, I have fucking had it with some people.  (Yes there will be swearing too).

I have officially had enough with pussyfooting around non voters and the undecided.  It is election day tomorrow.  You have had since the 18th April to look at the information, decide between the parties; if you haven't decided by now, what the fuck have you been playing at?

Photo Credit

I am tired of being people's research assistant in comment sections.  I am frankly pissed off by this point of people saying that they aren't sure and want more information from people.  It is the eve of the election, what have you been doing?  

This is not just about bloody Brexit.  Yes, we are leaving. I voted remain but the two main political parties have agreed to go forward with it so I have to deal with it. This is about so much more than Brexit, if you bothered to look. 

I am sick of people reading things like the Daily Mail and deciding on their vote based on that.

Think I am biased against Daily Mail readers?  Well, yes, I have to admit, I am.  Just read the vitriol in the comments sections.  I am the Guardian reading lefty that they love to hate.  The difference being, I have done my bloody research!  I have read papers from every side of the argument, yes including the Daily Mail.  I have read the manifestos.  I have watched Question Time for months.  I have watched the questions and answers programmes to the leaders (not debates as Theresa May refuses to debate!!!).  I have gotten all the information I could, which has backed up my choice of whom to vote for.

To the people who have decided not to vote: 

Yes your vote will be a difference. 

Yes it does matter who you vote for. 

No they are not the same.

What I share below is unbiased fact of the main policies of the two main parties.  Yes unbiased.

TORY

Goodbye NHS. If the NHS goes private (as the Tories want and have investigated into), you will suffer. Get pregnant? Prepare to pay thousands.  Check out this link for more information. Free at point of access for the working only.  Elevated costs.  

Goodbye winter fuel and the triple lock on pensions. Goodbye free school meals for children which in some cases means they are losing their one hot meal a day.  Nurses are going to food banks.  I will just leave that bit there for you to ponder.

Security of this country is not properly staffed or funded.  The police warned Theresa May two years ago that she was sacrificing the country's security by getting rid of 20,000 police officers.  She called it scaremongering.  We have had three terrorist attacks this year in this country with proof in each that the attackers were reporting many times to security services but lack of resources meant that the reports were not properly looked into,  Theresa May has been Home Secretary/Prime Minister for SEVEN YEARS.

LABOUR

Free education including university tuition meaning more people who want to get a university education but could not afford it, will be able to. 

The NHS  will be properly funded.

More police. 

Big business taxed properly. 

Read the manifestos or if you can't be arsed, listen to the bloody news. 

I have had enough with this "I don't know/don't care" attitude. It fucking matters. People are dying under austerity cuts.  Dying cancer patients are having their benefits removed.  Look at the info, make up your mind, get off your backside and VOTE.

Watch this NHS pediatrician sob at the reality of the NHS and tell me it is not your responsibility to fucking vote. Sod "your country needs you to vote".  YOU need to vote for yourself.

RANT OVER. Now go, vote.

Please Register To Vote

Today is the last day that you can register to vote.  It takes five minutes.  This has not been so important for many a year and hence the reason why I am writing this post today, along with many other bloggers under the hashtag #NotThe33

In the last election in 2015, only 66.1% turned out to vote.  That means that 33.9% of the population left the state of the nation to chance and other people's voices and opinions drowning out their own.

There are a lot of people who are not interested in politics.  They think that whomever ends up in government will be mostly the same as any others; so why bother.  I used to be one of those people.  But then I started reading the occasional news story and my response was an ever increasing "What the hell?  WHAT THE HELL?"

I started to read more and more, looking more into the views and stances of the various political parties, especially given the rise of UKIP and I found myself becoming more and more political.  When the BNP had political aspirations it was laughable.  Everyone knew that thugs were not going to get into parliament, even with my knowing at least one person who had voted for them.

But then UKIP emerged with the odious Nigel Farage pegged as "the working man's politician" and everything changed.  Although UKIP are not a party that will gain anything meaningful in this election, many of its voters have moved to the Conservatives.

I am not going to tell you how to vote or even ask you to vote for one party or another.  All I ask is that YOU VOTE.  We are now into the two long years of negotiations for Brexit and we need the right party there speaking for us.  But this isn't just about Brexit.  This is about the lives of the British people and those who choose to come to our country to work.

It was not a requirement in writing this post to share who you are voting for.  But I am happy to share my particular vote, which will be Labour.

While I am not a particular fan of Jeremy Corbyn, I believe in the policies that Labour have put forward in their manifesto.  I believe that Labour are for the people, all of the people, unlike the Conservatives who are blatantly for only for the rich.

I cannot vote for a party that want to continue the £9000 a year tuition fees for students.

I cannot vote for a party that want to take pensioner's winter allowance away from them (plus how much is this means testing going to cost? That has not been specified)  One Daily Mail reader suggested putting hot water bottles next to windows??

I cannot vote for a party that want to take away free school lunches from pupils who for some, is the only hot meal they have that day.  Any savings gained by offering breakfast is laughable considering that schools will have to employ more staff and pay more hours in order for this to happen.  Which comes of their ever decreasing funding.

I cannot vote for a party that want to reinstate fox hunting.  A blood sport where foxes are ripped to pieces for people's entertainment after hunting them to exhaustion.  There is no argument that justifies this.  

I cannot vote for a party that wants to make the elderly pay for their own care, after their death by taking their houses.  What happens to the many family members who move in with their relatives to provide that care and then have nowhere to live?

There are many other examples but frankly, we would be here all day.

You cannot look at this election and think only about immigration, which I know is a factor for many.  But the truth of the matter is that we need immigrants.  As one example, we do not have enough doctors or nurses.  FACT.  The Conservatives have already taken away nurse's bursaries enabling them to study and don't get me started on how they treat our doctors.  EU Immigrants put 20 billion more into the system than they take.  FACT.

But regardless of what you think of immigration, this cannot be your own only reason for voting.  Look at the manifestos in their entirety or even just the main points.  The most important thing is to VOTE.