If you don’t know who Ann Widdecombe is congratulations and apologies, because I’m about to ruin that for you. Looking for a politician who embodies the ‘hateful Tories’ tag of the 80s, 90s and beyond, you’d be hard pushed to find a better example than the 77-year-old who was a Tory MP from 1979 – 2019 before leaving for the Brexit Party. She is now a member of Reform. An ardent supporter of the death penalty, she is also a spiteful bigot. It’s a trait she seems proud of.
So, it is quite a thing to report that a sitting Labour MP has accused Widdecombe of being ‘woke’ simply because she thinks the state has a duty to protect (some) trans women from being raped and abused in male prisons.
What? I know. Terf Island, remember?
Earlier this week, Reform’s pick for Prison Tsar had the audacity to say that, having worked with trans prisoners, she was of the view that decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis when it came to where they were imprisoned. When asked about this, Nigel Farage, Reforms’ CEO, basically said he didn’t know enough about what he called a ‘small issue’, and deferred to Vanessa Frake, who was once Rose West’s prison governor, for her more experienced opinion. You can read more about it in Wednesday’s Trans Agenda.
That prompted a backlash that has included JK Rowling, apparently now our unelected President. A Labour MP, Jonathan Hinder, one of the 2024 intake and a former policeman, also joined in, focussing on Widdecombe’s comments in particular to call out the ‘woke right’.
These are all very stupid people.
I won’t repeat Widdecombe’s comments because they are mostly awful (you can read them here) but her position that some trans women (who’ve undergone surgery) should not be forced into men’s prisons, and that the state has a duty of care to protect them, puts her very much at odds with many in the current government, all of the Tories, most of the UK print media and, of course, Wizard Glinner.
While this was all going on, Rowling was also calling for a boycott of Marks & Spencer. By my math, this is at least the fourth boycott GCs have tried to organise of the retailer in recent years. Their crime, this time, is to have employed someone who may or may not be trans in a customer service role. This person, about whom we know nothing other than she is tall, politely asked a girl and her mother if they would like any help. It is what she is paid to do. That is all that happened.
Now, Sex Matters, oft described as a ‘Human Rights charity’ or ‘Women’s Rights charity’ is calling for men to be kept out of lingerie sections, the newspapers are attacking M&S, and the woman, who may or may not be trans, is being framed as a predator lurking in the underwear section trying to fondle girls, all off the back of an anonymous claim.
And that really is all from just the past 24 hours.