House Of Communions, Early Day Motion tabled - Draft Code of Practice on Services, public functions and associations

[SingleSexSpacesInSchools]

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/65938

This is not a prayer motion, the only thing that could reject the draft guidance.

See here for more info https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/business/edms/

I do not think there is much chance of a prayer motion being voted on, given the timetables, who controls the timetable etc etc. But the chances are not zero.

I'm very glad to know that AR KC thinks the letter cited by Ophelia (above) is fantastic. I hope it's ok with the original writer (was it Ophelia? I'm not clear) won't mind if I nick the odd bit in case of need.

Great article from Victoria Smith too:
https://open.substack.com/pub/glosswitch/p/what-shouldnt-women-have?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=284zen

I have been surprised not to see my MP's name on the EDM.

But apparently “MP has not signed EDM 240 primarily due to strict parliamentary conventions regarding select committee chairs and internal Labour Party discipline]

Select Committee Neutrality: MP serves as a senior select committee chair within Parliament. Convention dictates that chairs of major committees avoid signing highly partisan or adversarial Early Day Motions to protect the objective, cross-party authority of their committees.

Focus on Legislative Accountability over Symbolism: EDMs are largely symbolic backbench petitions that rarely result in direct legislative changes. MP historically prioritises using direct parliamentary channels—such as questioning Ministers on the floor of the House and scrutinising the financial impact through committee work—to demand practical government accountability rather than signing backbench motions.

Strategic Party Positioning: While MP has been vocal about the "mess" created by the guidelines, actually signing a motion to formally strike down an EHRC Code of Practice crosses into open rebellion against their frontbench. By voicing opposition via parliamentary debate rather than an EDM, maintains the leverage required to lobby the Labour leadership from within the party rather than from the outside.“

Does this sound true?

I have to admit I have not idea if Chair's of other committees have signed.

And does this mean that those Labour MPs who have signed are now "Labour Rebels"?

Have sent you a pm

This is quite a scary read. They seem intent on bullying and harassing MPs into signing the EDM:

https://www.reddit.com/r/transgenderUK/comments/1tyqv9k/frustration_with_people_not_showing_up_at_local/

I'm not in the UK, Not - I've had mixed results from Irish politicians - interestingly, the most open and personal responses were from our former Taoiseach,[Prime Minister] Leo Varadkar, who responded by email on the two occasions I contacted him, addressed me by name, didn't agreed with me, but disagreed very respectfully.

Others sent automated replies and nothing else, or a minion saying that the minister welcomes my thoughts blah blah.

So a mixed bag.

I don't know about scary but they obliviously don't have as many informed people on that thread as we do on this one because they're not aware that the Ministers and their lackey's can't vote without losing their positions.

I didn't know of this myself until the information shared on this thread, so you can live and learn.

It does explain why Monica Harding's name disappeared from the list of "Withdrawn Signatures" as she was being directly bullied by TRAs in her constituency.

Yes, not that it's escaped their notice though. In fact it seems to have drawn more attention to it.

"Yeah, shit's difficult. To clarify: Harding's a specific target bc she has a history of transphobia, but also appears to be very concerned with her public image - meaning that it may be possible to force her hand into signing EDM 240 and voting for trans rights by vocally highlighting her bigotry through protest and outreach in her constituency".

I'd be interested to know what her alleged history of transphobia is.

This is a depressing read

https://archive.ph/L8E0b

https://thecritic.co.uk/how-the-war-wasnt-won/

Thanks for the link, I agree it doesn't feel like we won does it.

"....But within British universities, at least, it has become clear that the real struggle has only just begun."

That's because the Uni's are the place where this batshittery was invented, they'll fight tooth and nail to prevent their chickens from coming home to roost.

How many academics only have a career because of this codswallop, they'll keep teaching this counter-factual misinformation until they're sacked or market forces render them surplus to requirement.

Thanks for ruining my Sunday, Cake. (kidding)

It is depressing, and I think she has put into words how I have been feeling lately about the whole thing. I worked in HE many years ago (not as an academic) and it seems clear to me now that, as universities always do, they will continue to move and change at a glacial pace, if at all.

Universities exist, and have for a very long time existed, in order to exist. They generate income in order to generate income. They hoard their resources in order to buy up land and build their estates, in order to generate more wealth by taking on more and more international, high-fee-paying students, whose families then do their publicity for them. Which, in turn, generates more wealth. So they can exist. In order to exist.

I believe that the only thing that will shift the HE sector will be a high-level, extremely public, lawsuit against a top-ten ranking, Russell Group institution, won with significant damages awarded. So, not one academic suing for constructive dismissal, but a suit by a high-profile, wealthy individual or foundation taken against UCL, Imperial College, or LSE, with the outcome and damages awarded not being hidden behind an NDA.

Or a major foreign donor withdrawing support for the institution.

This could take another generation. I have a feeling that universities will be the last bastion of gender ideology, where the law-deniers teach the next generation of law-deniers.

I'm very glad that I no longer work for a university.

The names represent what remains of the Labour left, now deploying its residual energy not against poverty, NHS collapse or war, but against a code of practice that clarifies the meaning of a word. Aye there’s a truth.

And why is Rosie D trying to ’out’ two of the MPs? What’s her objective there? Doesn’t make sense. Not to mention people really ought to stop saying gender critical and instead say that someone understands biology.

Yes, simply having a legal ruling does not change or eradicate the ideological culture that has given birth to and nurtured trans ideology. It is embedded. It is going to take quite a few more years yet to ensure compliance.

There is going to have to be a dedicated monitoring process and the nerve to perservere with legal actions for non compliance. I imagine the situation in universities, as well as within political parties, is going to be particularly fraught and intense. Politicians and academics have shaped their careers, and even their identities, around this stuff. And group think is a powerful regulator of people's behaviour.

MAGA Americans seem to think that just because Trump has issued an edict then the MAGA war is won......but it is not true. His style of going about things simply ensures that polarisation continues and there always lies in wait a fierce backlash, which frustrates everything he tries to do.

I think we're going to need a stark change of governance/government to really shift things for good.....and that is some years off yet.I think a sensible centrist Conservative or Republican government is what is going to be required to finish things off. Populists of either political wing are not the long term answer.

The U.S.A is the birth place of this madness, and it is really crazy over there. Men routinley competing in women's events; rapists and abusers locked up with women in prison; a childhood 'gender identity' industry and a powerful pharmaceutical industry that freely advertises itself everywhere. On top of that the billionnaire tech bros are really into this stuff and it is they that fund the project, and whose platforms promote it.

Looking ahead to the next presidential election ( post Trump) we have to hope that the Republicans put forward someone who has little to no association with MAGA. The Democrats are still toying with the idea of re-running Kamala Harris....🙄Until America rolls back on all of this stuff ( including Critical Race theory, Social Justice Activism etc) then it makes it even harder for us here to be really rid of it. In some ways we are leading the way in rejecting it...but having a shared language and shared cultural -educational associations, along with social media make it very difficult.

I've just found my LibDem MP as a signatory - even though he has always presented himself as absolutely opposed to genderwang despite his party's position. I've written to him (firmly!), but what a disappointment - there are other LibDems who haven't signed, so they must have found a way to resist the pressure.

A year on, the everyday culture within universities tells its own story. Pronouns remain recommended on institutional emails. University conferences continue to define “women” in ways that encompass trans women. Colleagues who might object keep their heads down.

This is the same for my university. Its education strategy explicitly focuses on being ‘inclusive’ but they really mean TQ+ inclusivity and not inclusive for women of the biological kind. Misinformation continues to be spread via outsourced ‘inclusion’ info courses etc. I too keep my head down.

For the genderists, they must keep the universities onside. It’s a fight to maintain control over the beliefs of impressionable young people necessary to carry on the most successful anti-women strategy ever devised. In convincing the liberal apparatchiks that oppressing and controlling women is somehow ‘progressive’, they started a train difficult to stop.

Too many smart people would have to acknowledge themselves played. It’s an uncomfortable feeling esp tied to identity.

Too many smart people would have to acknowledge themselves played.

Absolutely. Very hard to walk back from those positions. And too much invested, in terms of careers, and more.

Sarah Olney is another LibDem MP who signed, then withdrew, and whose name no longer appears appear as withdrawn. In an idle moment I couldn't help wondering whether some over-eager junior aides had been busy signing up LibDem MPs, because of COURSE all LDs would sign, wouldn't they...?

I find that reassuring. It means that, maybe, some of those that signed are just posturing and have absolutely no interest in taking any further action.

So much for "winning hearts and minds" as a TRA tactic.

"force her hand" is an admission of intent to coerce.

There's going to be a massive issue universities on multiple fronts in coming years. Universities don't understand this. Parents and prospective students need to be on the ball with it. It's basically a bubble that's about to burst in my honest opinion.

Firstly you have AI. It's coming like a train and few people are really getting it. When the head of Black Rock says that the money will be in trades not lawyers pay attention. There will still be jobs in law but they will shrink and they will not require the level of study they currently do. Then there's all those middle management roles which again are going to be heavily reduced. And tech jobs which currently are well paid. DH works in the field and it's changed beyond his expectations just in a few months.

Then there's the cost. It's simply not worth it for huge numbers. I remember when they proposed 50% going to uni in the 90s when I was student, even I was going 'thats bloody ridiculous and serves no useful purpose'.

Then there is the political backlash which we will see more and more with this kind of shite being pushed by universities. They are being used as vehicle for dodgy political activism of all kinds. It will eventually implode and universities will face defunding, fines and all kinds of other penalties if they don't get a grip on it. They are massively out of step with the general population and this isn't going to change even with the numbers of graduates. There are a lot of disillusioned grads who put up with this shit who will be amongst those most determined to put an end to it because they felt unable to do anything whilst in education.

Then there's the issue with universities being funded by overseas students. Many of these are from conservative countries who will eventually either demand changes or vote with feet.

It is untenable as it is for universities to carry on down this path and for the money to keep coming in. There will be a bust in terms of the numbers of students which is why those who may have kids going need to be on the ball about quality of courses, course being axed and universities going bump.

Oxford of course is probably one of those least at risk and that's part of the problem as there's a degree of arrogance.

I agree with the above, we need to invest in trade schools and apprenticeships now before it's too late.

Agree with much of the analysis here. I've always said, where are the 'good' jobs going to come from, there will never be enough of them, and as noted, AI will/has accelerated this process massively. i think the number of Chinese students and the influence the Chinese already have via the universities is a matter of concern, which a sensible government should be monitoring closely. Even with trades, yes. will always need plumbers and chippies. But we don't need machinists, mill-workers, all those jobs in manufacturing industry that have largely been mechanised. I think wage labour is becoming a less and less satisfactory method of sharing wealth, and some sort of Universal Income in the future as almost inevitable.