Scottish Tory peer Michelle Mone, who was awarded a seat in the House of Lords by David Cameron for her services to trolling on behalf of the Yookay during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum has been in the news recently over allegations about her role in a so called VIP lane contract for PPE. PPE Medpro, a company owned and controlled by Mone’s husband was awarded Government contracts worth more than £200 million to supply personal protective equipment after she made use of the so called VIP lane to recommend it to ministers. Much of the equipment supplied was later deemed to be unfit for use. Mone and her husband stand to gain millions of pounds from the deal.
Mone at first denied she had any involvement in the contract, sending aggressive and threatening legal letters to journalists reporting on facts that Mone now admits were true.
The Michelle Mone story broke in January 2022, but it was five months before BBC Scotland reported the scandal. BBC Scotland has shown a marked reluctance to cover the story despite the fact it involves a prominent Scottish Tory member of the Lords. BBC Scotland was very keen to publicise Mone when she was mouthing off about the supposed evils of Scottish independence and her ‘threats’ to leave Scotland if the country became independent. She was then given even more publicity when she complained about the abuse she claimed to have received for speaking out against independence, none of which were substantiated. In the event Scotland did not vote to become independent but Mone buggered off anyway, an event BBC Scotland was as quiet about as it has been about the PPE scandal she has been embroiled in for the past two years.
On Sunday Mone and her husband appeared on the BBC in a softball interview with Laura Kuenssberg which had apparently been set up by the same press advisor who told Prince Andrew that the best thing to do was to appear in an interview that the allegations that he’d been involved with a sex trafficked teen with whom the sweaty prince appeared in a now notorious photo could not be true as he was unable to sweat and in any case he’d been in a Pizza Hut in Woking at the time.
The takeaway from this interview is Mone and Barrowman’s claim that they don’t have the money from the PPE, it’s just resting in their trust fund. Didn’t Father Ted offer a similar excuse? Naturally the BBC Scotland news quickly skipped through the latest twist in this Scottish Conservative saga in 40 seconds.
The simple fact remains uncontested no matter how Mone tries to spin it. There was a global catastrophe during which millions died, 200,000 in the UK alone, countless millions of others had their lives blighted, jobs lost, families destroyed and grieving. The natural response of any normal decent human being when faced with tragedy on such an immense scale is sympathy, grief, empathy, and compassion. That however was not the reaction of Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman. Their response when confronted with unthinkable human tragedy was to profiteer from it and take advantage from it in order to enrich themselves. It’s obscene behaviour. Just because others did the same thing that doesn’t mean that it’s OK. It means that Mone and her husband are just as nasty and bereft of a moral compass or a basic grasp of human decency as they are.
Kuenssberg did not ask Mone about the legal threats she’d been making to journalists for reporting on facts Mone now concedes were true. Instead Mone yet again was allowed to play the victim. The excuses she gave were as convincing as Prince Andrew’s sweating story and equally likely to backfire. Her only sin, she claimed, was to lie to the press about her involvement, which she pointed out was not a crime. She insisted that she was being made a scapegoat for the gross incompetence of the Conservatives, a party she was happy to support until very recently.
Mone and her husband are currently being investigated by the police for their role in this sordid affair. Both vehemently deny any allegations of wrongdoing.
Mone and her husband are just the latest in a long line of awful, greedy, entitled, amoral opportunists who automatically assume that their wealth and status will insulate them from the laws and obligations that bind the rest of us. And, the truly appalling thing is, they’re right.
Irrespective of the outcome of the police investigation, none of this would have happened had David Cameron not given Mone a seat in the Lords or if the Tories had not opened up a preferential route to lucrative government contracts for friends and associates of cabinet ministers. Both of these events point to the rotten corruption at the very heart of the Westminster system. The House of Lords is institutionalised cronyism. it makes cronyism and patronage a central tenet of government. The Lords doesn’t need to be reformed, it needs to be abolished. We all know Starmer will do neither. Mone is what you get when cronyism becomes an institution and a central pillar of government. We are so used to this way of doing things that we no longer appreciate just how corrupt the British state is, to its very core.
While we’re all face palming over the audacity and rank entitlement of Mone and her husband. There was another very British example of audacity and rank entitlement which you might have missed. Keir Starmer is very fond of telling us how much he’s changed the Labour party, an assessment with which former Tory MP and erstwhile Conservative leadership candidate Rory Stewart wholeheartedly agrees. On Sunday Stewart announced that he’d be happy to serve in a government led by Keir Starmer. Stewart saying he would be open to serving as a minister in Keir Starmer’s cabinet shows that Labour is the new Conservative Party and the original Conservative Party is the new BNP.
Eton and Oxbridge educated upper middle class white men are so dripping in entitlement that they believe they have an automatic right to prominent political positions, and Labour under Starmer is now so right wing that it’s a party that a man who stood for the leadership of the Tory party only four years ago feels that he’d be comfortable in. Stewart’s biggest problem is that he’s probably too left wing for Starmer to be comfortable with him.
The hospital had a meeting with the family on Friday to discuss my mum. They have decided that if she starts to become a bit more aware they will transfer her to a hospital closer to the family in the East End of Glasgow, if not they will keep her where she is. She seemed a bit more alert on Saturday, although she’s still very confused and sleeps most of the time, but on Saturday night she was unresponsive again. They have done another CT scan. She is not eating at all and it’s a struggle to get her to take a sip of a drink. The doctors have decided that they will no longer put her on any drips so she is likely to get dehydrated quickly and could slip away at any time, or she could last a few more weeks yet. There is no way of telling. The only blessing is that she’s not in any pain. I took her a packet of her favourite treat, chocolate covered marzipan balls, on Saturday in the hope that might tempt her, but by Sunday she hadn’t touched them.
You will appreciate that with all this going on I am finding it difficult to concentrate on anything else.
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I’m so sorry, Paul. I know what you’re going through and you have my sincerest sympathy. Sending you strength to get through the following weeks.
Paul
Thanks for another great post at this incredibly difficult time. I’ve gone through the same thing and know who tough it can be. Best wishes to you, your mother and family.
So sad to hear that your mum is not responding but good to hear that she is pain free and comfortable. Thanks for posting another great article about current events. The trials of Michelle Mone must seem such a trivial matter compared to what is going on for you personally. But for us in Scotland this symbolises all that is corrupt and rotten in the dreadful union we are stuck in, for now.
If Mone does not get jail there is no justice.
There will never be ‘justice’ while she has the BBC to explain why she is just a poor wee woman who made a tiny error!!
But, fear not, the impartial BBC will be all over the Scottish Budget, tomorrow.
We are all the fools to accept the BBC.
So sorry for what you’re going through with your mum.
Sorry to hear the news about your mum but I hope the fact she is not in any pain is of some comfort.
Thank you for the article. La Mone is just the tip of a very large iceberg filled with the stench of corruption. And unusable PPE. We, the taxpayer, are paying for the storage of that rubbish PPE and for its disposal. Costs which run into hundreds of millions if not billions of pounds.
It is not just the monetary costs of this corruption/profiteering that angers me but the fact that there were and are very real victims of this criminal behaviour – the health care workers who died because of the poor quality PPE or its complete absence when they needed it most. Many of those workers left orphaned children behind. Given the UKGov record of caring for children whether immigrant or home grown does anyone believe this UKGov will take care of these orphans?
Paul ,forget writing for the site – you have more pressing calls on your time !
As for the Mone affair – its a storm in a C-cup ! ( I’ll get ma coat ! )
Such sad news about your mum Paul. As others say at least she is not in pain. My thoughts are with your mum, you and your family
As supporters of Independence and knowing what Mone was like before this all cropped up it’s understandable that we will tend to focus on her and her husbands actions. We shouldn’t forget though that this is just the tip and most visible part of the iceberg that was dubious government spending that went down the “VIP Lane” route to massive riches for company owners that had never before even manufactured, sold or distributed PPE.
There were £billions worth of contracts handed to friends and friends of friends of Tory Ministers and Lords and Ladies, I even remember reading about how the landlord of Matt Hancock’s local was given a £40 million contract to produce swab sample collection tubes for the NHS Test and Trace programme.
The Test and Trace programme apparently spent in excess of £37 billion in just two years on contracts such as the one given to Hancock’s landlord. I doubt the really big winners from this will ever be investigated, despite it being part of the Covid inquiry I can not see anything truly worthwhile coming out of it that would prevent such cronyism from happening again.
The only way to end this for good in Scotland is to get rid of the type of government that will repeatedly enrich their friends while robbing the public. For that we will need to become an Independent country, clear as day isn’t it.
In England it’s serve up the head of this thieving entitled Scots woman because that reads like good wedge racist vengeance
In Scotland we despise in general entitled people and especially her because she sided with England in the war of the union words in 2014
So everybody’s happy
Well you’d think so, but no, because we’re not as stupid as they powers that be think and hope we are
We know what happened and we know who’s to blame and just offering up the one wee Scottish Baroness disliked by all sacrifice won’t cover the deaths of thousands while the profits were flowing in to the rest of them behind the much disliked Baroness and her phony companies
So bring us the heads of the real Alfredo Garcia’s behind the PPE contract scandal, because they are Sunak and Gove, the cheque signer and the fixer for their pals in the UK/English government that partied and frolicked the Covid nights away while our families stuck to the rules and died without making obscene amounts of money from profiteering on the deaths of their neighbours and countrymen
Now that the Tories have Lord David Cameron back will we see him chase the leadership of his previous command now that Brexit’s a memory, and serve up Sunak and Gove’s piggy heads but this time with apples in their mouths instead of that part of his anatomy that remains nameless
Except for viewers in Scotland where Brexit is still very real, we didn’t want it and is still crippling our economy and ruining lives
We’ll soon see if Lord Dave’s maneuvers work out, after all he’s the one who put Baroness Mone into the House of Lords in the first place
Just focus oan yer maw Paul. Glad to hear she’s not in pain.
Another difficult time for you Paul.
Best wishes.
As far as the present Mone fiasco goes,the Tory idea of performing due diligence when awarding tax payers money for contracts,is not what the company actually does but who owns it.
It has always been this way but is now being done brazenly in the open.
Sorry to hear about your Mum, my elderly relative was told she would eat less, sleep more be pain free and eventually wouldn’t wake up. She passed away peacefully, that’s the best we can all hope for when the time comes. Thoughts and prayers with you and yours.
In an effort to raise a few spirits, and on a (perhaps misguided) sense of optimism towards those in the Herald’s offices. (Well, I guess it’s peace and goodwill to all – and all that swaddling …)
Hark! The Herald journos sing
Hark! The Herald journos sing:
“Scottish Indy’s just the thing!
Peace to all and parties wild:
No and Yessers reconciled.”
Joyful let our nation rise;
Join the triumph of the Ayes;
With the Yessing host proclaim:
“Scotland’s re-born, to much acclaim.”
Hark! The Herald journos sing
“Scottish Indy’s just the thing!”
[With acknowledgements]
_____________
(Trying to work something on the basis of “Michelle – is not my belle” if anyone wants to help out …)
You been on the sherry already!
Well … I did say, ‘raising the spirits’.
My late Dad used to call ‘sherry’ … ‘hare’s piss’.
See below for helpful suggestions 👇
And so it begins. In due course, the papers will be fill of stories of England deporting Scots wives, husbands, mums and dads. English Labour back this policy.
https://archive.is/sw99l
Brazilian wife of Scottish man set to be turfed out country as hubby only makes £34K
A Brazilian woman who lives with her Scottish husband could be forced to leave the country under “utterly” disgusting new immigration rules that are set to be put in place.
Steven, 40, and Andrea Brown, 42, stay together in their South Lanarkshire home but that could all change if wife Andrea is chucked out of Scotland due to new visa requirements.
English government’s British blood and soil Eugenics program now in full swing. ‘Seig heil!’.
I’m open to hearing anyone try to justify the union now. Unionism has gone so silent since Labour backed the genocide of kids and the deportation of Scots loved ones by England.
Lady Michelle Mone, Tories at your feet
Wonder how we manage to make ends meet
Who finds the money for your fake PPE
Did you think that money was death and sickness free?
That’s good!
What about –
She’s a real nowhere Mone
Sitting in her nowhere home
Making faulty PPE
For nobody
Doesn’t have a point of view
Knows not where she’s going to
I think Corton Vale would do
Don’t you?
Very good! It’s sad that such a Monentity is getting so much attention.
I’m so sorry to hear that about your mum. I wish you, her, and your whole family, all the best.
There once was a Lady named Mone,
Who sold PPE fit for a throne.
We found masks full of holes,
And gowns with loose folds,
Her gear was all ragged and torn!
Excellent 😂
She deserves to go bust.
Wasn’t she the ‘elite designer of bosom holders’ anyway judging by that pun yir2…😂
UK unemployment is currently rising as fast as it did due to the financial crisis and the covid pandemic.
Labour are standing on a manifesto of policies to promote this.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/timeseries/mgsx/lms
Even softer Tory stomachs are turning now at the piles of dead kids blown apart by the genocidal Israeli government. Most folks have their breaking point. We have 10 Tories now who are now breaking at ~10k kids dead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67745408
Israel has gone beyond self-defence in Gaza, Tory MP Alicia Kearns says
Israel has “gone beyond self-defence” and lost the moral authority in its war with Hamas, the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee has said.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns told the BBC she thinks Israel has broken international law and risks increasing support for Hamas among Palestinians.
And whoda thunk it…
…An opinion poll carried out between 22 November and 2 December by a respected Palestinian think tank, the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, found that support for Hamas had more than tripled in the occupied West Bank compared to three months ago.
Supporters of Hamas were still in a minority, but 70% of the respondents said armed struggle was the best means of ending the Israeli occupation.
‘Still in a minority’. Aye, because it’s not like people in Gaza voted for this. They’ve not had elections in 16 years. I know this because Zionist extremists told me; namely that ‘Palestinians are opposed to Hamas because it treats them badly and they didn’t vote for it!’.
But oh man how predictable was this outcome? Only racist extremist ethno-religious nationalists filled with bloodlust could be so stupid as to not see the obvious. Israel has not destroyed Hamas, it has given it the biggest boost since its formation. Hamas will emerge stronger that it has even been before. several new generations will be joining up either Hamas or other armed resistance groups. You’d have to have less than two brain cells to imagine otherwise. But then that’s what racists have.
Thousands of dead kids and Hamas the strongest it’s ever been. Slowest of super duper slow claps for the current Israeli government. Up to their armpits in the blood of innocent kids and have done the opposite of what was intended.
The only way to end Hamas now is a free Palestinian state. That’s the the victory Israel has achieved. Right-wingers are not the brightest sparks. Their hate filled prejudice clouds their judgement.
And as for the racists within our borders, here is the late right-wing racist Alistair Darling back ahead of 2014. A fitting way to pay tribute to him.
“I find it galling that if you are an EU national here, you get a vote on my country’s [Britain’s/England’s] future.”
That’s him talking about my wife there. Me too with my Irish passport in pocket.
#British jobs/spouses for British workers
He complains about people voting in Scotland who are not Scots born, but it’s perfectly OK for English Welsh or Northern Irish born people living in Scotland to vote
That’s the British/English mentality right there, a country (Scotland) wants to vote not to be British but by insistence the British/English demand the right that they would deny other foreigners, they never see themselves as foreigners
British/English democracy is what we say it is
If you pay tax in a country then it should be your legal right to be represented in it by the politicians that ask for your support to represent all of the people who live in that country, and that’s a vote on anything and everything should you choose to exercise that vote
It wasn’t five minutes ago that Rishi Sunak and his wife paid no tax in England’s Britain and he’s PM when not one soul of the public in any country voted him into that position
It’s true blood and soil stuff. Scots = ‘born and bred’ here rather than resident. ‘EU citizens here for 20 years are not Scots!’ etc.
The irony is that the only way to define a Scot to allow ‘expats’ to have eligibility to vote, would be to introduce legal Scottish nationality. But that basically requires indy / for Scots to be legally of a different nationality to brits. 🙂
Personally, I don’t have any issue with ‘Scots expats’ being able to vote here, assuming they are not voting in other countries (I think you need to pick your country for voting purposes). Maybe up to some sort of sensible time limit which indicates they have left and don’t seem to plan on coming back. After all, Scots expats are usually this because England makes sure the Scottish economy is either ruined or underperforming, meaning Scots have to leave their country, friends and family behind to find work. People don’t normally do this by choice. I suspect most Scots in England are not there by choice – I nearly ended up having to get on my bike when I graduated, and it was one of the things that cemented my support for indy. I doubt Scots forced to find work in England will be particularly endeared to the union as a result. As much as Irish migrants forced to England for the same reasons historically were.
Brits from Scotland in England will be happy to be there, but would they seek Scottish nationality? I doubt it. Why, they are Brits in Britain!
But what I do oppose, is people legally resident in Scotland not having the vote. If people are here working and paying taxes… married to Scots…kids attending schools… using public services and paying for these…. then they should be allowed to vote. No taxation without representation. But that’s because I’m not a blood and soil nationalist like Darling.
Remember, the right wing of Labour is Tory, and Tories are blood and soil nationalist, hence Darling seeing things like Michael Gove sees them.
The BBC had obituaries about this guy like I am supposed to proudly see him as a fine politician from my country. No, I saw him as a racist Englishman who migrated to Scotland from his country, then believed he should get the vote while my wife should not, even though they were both migrants and equally ‘Scottish’ in any non-racist sense of the word. She even self-ids as ‘French-Scots’ now. I have my doubts that an English born proud Brit like Darling ticked ‘Scottish’ in the census.
There’s a memorial service in Edinburgh for Lord Darling of the far flung fence post, why? he spent his life in the service of himself and England
Still using him for politicking after his demise
TBH, I didn’t know that was on today; just seen the BBC report. I just came across the above clip when I was trying to find something else, and it brought back that memory of me seeing his real opinions at the time. The mask totally slipped in that interview.
Concentrate on your mum and your family just now Paul, that’s the ultra important thing for you to do – a wee smile at all those wonderful times, hold her hand, and just be there, when you can.
SNP face wipeout by Labour in Scotland says Tory on Talk TV
I’m still laughing
What’s more likely is the Tories know they’ll be wiped out so will vote Labour to keep their half dozen union supporting MPs then Starmer will claim it’s undeniable that Scotland wishes to remain a colony of England
You can see the respondent pick up effect quite nicely in this data.
Labour supposedly in to the low 50’s March 23. Then in anticipation of the local elections, voters start responding to pollsters and the Labour share falls sharply by about 10% while the Tory vote goes up 8%.
Labour polling 50% got them 35% on the day. Grossly overinflated polling share due to sampling issues.
Still going on. They are mid 30’s UK-wide, not low 40’s.
England built a wall, and the Scots / Welsh have to pay for it.
Scots face ‘strict’ new entry requirements when travelling to EU
SCOTS are set to face new entry requirements when travelling into the European Union.
From October 6 2024, a new EU digital border system requiring fingerprints and facial scans to be taken from British travellers on first use is expected to launch, according to the i and Times newspapers.
Eurotunnel is said to be testing the technology, collecting personal data at borders and entering it into an EU-wide database.
With the entry/exit system (EES), passengers would have to agree to fingerprinting and facial image capture the first time they arrived on the continent. The idea is that this should then allow for quicker processing in the future, although significant delays are initially expected.
The SNP slammed the requirements as “strict”, and their Europe and EU accession spokesperson, Alyn Smith (below), said this was the “reality of broken, Brexit Britain”.
The Tories call this ”Taking back control ! ”
Clearly THEIR dictionary has a different definition of ”control ” .
Will this be for all non EU travellers, like Americans, Australians, etc?
Not sure, but I guess it is wider non-EU entry management scheme. But for Scots it will be due to Brexit, forced them against their will by England. Other countries negotiate their own immigration deals with the EU; they decide mutually with the bloc on the rules.
Hence my Irish passport won’t see me standing in such queues. Neither will e.g. Norwegians, even though Norway isn’t in the EU.
The UK could still have free movement of people with the EU. Nothing stopping that. But England opposed this. UK could have left the single market and customs union, but kept free movement. But England wanted a wall, and it built that round Scotland too.
https://twitter.com/JaneyGodley/status/1736337826801660223
👍
Liars and thieves in politics simplified by Janey Godley
Mone would be be threatening Janey with her *high connections* except her *high connections* are all diving for cover
Janey back on form. It’s not defamation if it’s true 😂
[…] Source […]
In the face of a continuous assault on the economy by England’s insane mismanagement long before and accelerated by and following Brexit the Scottish budget could have been made no better than it is
The Tory opposition will of course attack every aspect of the budget whilst denying any responsibility for causing the problem in the first place
Labour will blame the Tories in England and the SNP, but in Wales where Labour is the government they only blame the Tories in England
When you look at both parties in opposition in Scotland you have to say that Labour are actually far worse than the Tories, because at least the Tories tell the same lies to everybody whereas Labour tell different lies to everybody depending on which country they’re facing the camera
Labour are the two faced Gemini party of politics, or three or four, too many to count these days
About the budget, from an LGIU guy:
“Most worryingly, eight separate councils (25% of all local authorities) warned us that they could be unable to fund their statutory services – the services they have to provide by law.”
Councils are going to be strained, but that statement is absolute transparent poppycock to use an old-fashioned word. What he should have said to stick to the truth and the straight and narrow rather than Daily mail type sensationalism is this:
“Most worryingly, eight separate councils (25% of all local authorities) warned us that they could be unable to fund their statutory services – the services they have to provide by law – without cutting other services. ”
Now he’s just cast himself as not credible.
Another straw in the wind
Aye, noticed this myself. Always cautious with subsamples, but as you say, another possible straw in the wind.
What isclear in this data, is that stick in a linear trend and the SNP have been on the solid & steady up since the drop at the beginning of the year. By contrast, Labour have flat-lined, maybe even now on the decline from October due to #hardrightwinggate.
And that’s with CTV numbers staying broadly the same, which suggests even though Labour’s vote is artificially inflated due a lack of SNP respondents, we are still seeing Lab to SNP gradual movement. Which would tie in with Lab 2019 and 2021 moving to Yes, which is absolutely happening.
I wondered when this might appear given James Cook’s “How will Scotland plug its £1.5bn budget shortfall?” published at 19th December 2023, 06:23 UTC, recycling every scare story he’d spent the week promoting…
So no surprise whatever to see a ‘BREAKING NEWS’ headline appear with ” New income tax band for higher earners in Scotland ” title published 19th December 2023, 02:27 UTC https://archive.ph/nMkv0 with comments open, so well rehearsed that 7 minutes into print it had accumulated 923 comments from the the watercooled keyboards of the rebranded “BBC Scotland Nicola ate my budgie brigade” ….
And this man thinks he’s smart rather than FN obvious…
Apparently Nicola Sturgeon caused all the Ebike *near* accidents because she had a shot on one once
3 opposition parties in Holyrood plus the two union broadcaster parties outside of Holyrood plus the lunatics in Westminster, add in their threats insanity and corruption it’s no wonder Nicola went off for a rest
But just for a wee while of course until the polis give up on trying to manufacture that mouse that ate all the secret SNP money documents
They should ask BBCs James Cook, he’ll have seen them round at the French Ambassador’s house when he was raking the bins
I think the budget is about as good as anyone with half a brain could expect given C^HHunt with his disgusting austerity give to Tory pals budget. And for the first time ever I’ll say that Cosla and LGIU – and the STUC – should face the truth and put the blame fair and square where it belongs – Westminster, with no hiding behind damaging politics.
Without FFA or better, Devolution is limited. Very limited.
Anyways. glad to see the council tax freeze survived a lot of people are right on the cusp of going bust, and a year’s respite will do all of us some good. On that theme I particularly liked this idea and glad it has survived:
“and school meal debt is to be wiped out with a £1.5m one-off fund for councils”
it happens because of an inclusive policy by schools, who prevent children being stigmatised.
Action is needed to stop the spiral of debt wherever it rears its incredibly ugly head, an ugly debt head which lines the coffers of the Tories and their filthy rich ugly pals like Mone and her husband, who encourage it at every opportunity, and fail to legislate for responsible lending.
If the media made a programme showing the £billions flushed away stolen and wasted by Westminster it’s have to be a 24 hour continuous endeavour
I find it impossible to believe that multi millionaires with billionaire family connections and enough money to buy a small country of their own are just dying for the opportunity to be the Prime Minister of Britain to fulfill some driving need to serve the public, and all for a measly £hundred grand a year or so, it’s just not remotely credible
Why do people fall for this shit?
Common sense has prevailed. Not much detail in this report but more ink will be spilled shortly.
BBC News – Scottish ministers to abandon UK gender block appeal
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67761819
That S35 was a decision that should never have been taken by an interfering fascist Uk government. Anyone who supports independence and thinks that was a good idea will rue the day the next time the Uk government interferes in that way. Wouldn’t be surprised if they try to interfere in Scottish government budget decisions with a S35 order and I also think a Uk Labour government will do that as well. The whole furore over GRA has left me sickened with Scottish society in general and parts of the Independence movement in particular as well as so called feminism. I get why the Scottish government is not taking it to appeal because they cannot win. S35 was part of the devolution settlement which was and is a fraud committed on the Scottish people. Time they woke up to that.
You may be closer than you think when you say the UKGov might use an aS35 against the Scottish budget if reports on STV are true about Sunak wanting an explanation from SG as to why their taxation is different from rUK. When I read about it on Twitter my first thought was: ‘they’re going to try an S35 on this.’
I hope I am wrong but nothing with this Tory government would surprise me
What a gift Sunak is to the Indy movement, no opportunity should be missed by the SG, SNP and Greens to lay this firmly at Sunaks door. Budget cut this year of £2.9 billion to our pocket money has caused the tax increase and Sunak should be very publicly invited to explain in front of the Scottish Parliament why those cuts were imposed and if the £100 billion he’s managed to piss up the wall was a contributing factor.
Sadly, a lot of truth there.
I am still struggling to understand why some people believe my transmale nephew is mentally ill and high risk potential sex offender, ergo needs to go through a public humiliation process of proving to everyone that he isn’t secretly pretending to be trans for nefarious purposes, including ‘having his heid examined’ by a shrink, even when said medical experts are adamantly opposed to this, as it is not evidence based at all, but right-wing reactionary.
Not only that, but it’s impossible to medically diagnose someone as trans anyway (the UK government’s own study concluded as much), just as it is to diagnose someone as e.g. lesbian. There are not blood tests for protected characteristics, it’s only e.g. third Reich sorts that think there are. So the medical expert ‘diagnoses’ trans people based on, erm, self-id, specifically the person concerned simply saying they are trans. It’s not as if they can take a temperature, send urine samples off for analysis or something.
We can safeguard against the rare dangerous person without collective punishment of a whole minority group; for example if someone with a history of sex offences suddenly starts saying they are of a different sex when they are heading for the clink… but such assessments should be for guilty, not the innocent. The current method is based on the presumption of guilt, with the trans person having to prove innocence. It’s like the law requiring lesbians to prove they are not perving on other women in loos / changing rooms before they are allowed to use these. A lesbian would have to be a bigot to not see it this way. The whole thing is a repeat of the scare stories about gay men being a danger to young boys nipping into public loos for a tinkle in days gone by.
Self-id is working fine in all the other countries that have adopted it. No stories of mass rapes in the McDonalds loos by hoards of fake trans.
However, I understand that if the legal advice says it’s a lost cause in the fascist New English Reich, then there is little point in fighting the case again. This and iref2 being overruled shows is that devo is actually an English dictatorship. A parliament / people can be overruled by one unelected politician, and one not from Scotland, but from a different country; Britain. Jack is not a ‘Scottish’ politician, but a British one.
The news where they are in the big England is that better off folk in Scotland are all going to leave because of the terrible SNP ruining the economy by increasing some income tax
I’m not really sure why they believe that convincing folk in England that the SNP are bad is that smart a thing to do, if as in previous years when they’ve reported all this terrible SNP stuff when nobody actually leaves at all, because where are they going to go? England? OK well they can leave their very large and comparatively inexpensive dwellings in Scotland and the money they get for selling them will be around the price of a room and kitchen in the London area if they’re exceptionally lucky, oh and massive council tax bills on top of that, plus they won’t be driving their cars in that big London either because their ULEZ is is priced in daily cripple mode
So if anyone in the big England thinks there’s going to be a great influx of wealthy Scots they’d be well wrong
My own brother has a 5 bedroom with en suites, 2 living rooms downstairs, office, massive kitchen, toilet, conservatory, multiple sheds and garages and 9 acres of private land
Try buying that in the big England for a lower price than you can get in Scotland with views over the hills forests and lochs of the most beautiful country in the world, Scotland
My brother is going nowhere because he’s not daft and isn’t in the least bit fooled by the big English owned media tricks
Headlining as “Higher earners to pay more income tax in Scotland”, the much refreshed Angus Cochrane article from BBC Scotland (19th December 2023, 02:27 UTC) didn’t last long on the BBC/UK web-page before actual news demoted it until it disappeared down the relegation list.
Only on the Scotland and Scotland/Politics web-pages is it propped up as lead story with comments still open despite 3,869 ‘contributions’ from ‘the public’ 🤣…
Had it not been for the impoverishment imposed by successive UK governments, I might not have abandoned Scotland for Europe 23 years ago – Either Scotland leaves behind the UK or Scots will continue to do so individually, but it sure as hell won’t be to England to save 150 a month on tax and cheaper leccy….
Spot on Dr Jim, why move south to pay even more taxes and costs through higher council taxes, higher water rates, no free prescriptions, no free tuition fees, bedroom tax, higher poverty rates, poorer access to dentists and doctors despite what the BBC try to tell us – the media never puts anything into context – just bash the Scottish Govt and ignore the shambles in England
When we had open borders as part of the EU,there was no mass migration of wealthy people from higher tax countries such as Denmark to Thatcherite UK.
Despite what the Anglo establishment thinks,there is a lot more to life than simply money.
Scottish history however tells us that poverty drives migration where basic survival is at stake.
Given the predilection of the Anglo state for preventing immigration to their green and unpleasant land,you would think they would learn from this.
Taxation is one of the measures that can be deployed to lift people out of poverty and reduce their need to find a better life elsewhere.
There may be a small trickle of wealthy people leaving Scotland for Tax free London but it is nothing compared to the much larger numbers of those who might be seeking simply to survive.
They should be grateful to the Scottish government for implementing these enlightened policies.
Now the big English media in Scotland is launching into the vox pop street interviews in a big way to convince us all that life *under* the SNP is simply hell as they find as many people as they can to complain about the thing the big English media have asked them to complain about, and that at he moment is tax
The main problem the big English media have in that respect is most of the people they manage to dig up on the street to complain about Scotland aren’t Scottish, they tend to be folk with various accents from around the world, but it seems very few indigenous sounding locals are desperately keen to be a part of the big England’s bash the SNP campaign, so what we mostly are treated to is the presenter themselves from whichever media BBC or STV insisting upon how many people they’ve spoken to who are not happy, and before your very eyes and ears the big English media in Scotland is reporting great big doses of HEARSAY
I do hope they heard how loudly I wrote that word hearsay, because that’s now what the big English news is reliant upon, their own presenters telling us they’ve spoken to people and those people are not happy
Well you see I spoke to big Tam down the pub and he often tells me he used to know Elvis really well, and still is a great pal of the late Carl Perkins and his family over there in that big America, where I know big Tam’s never actually been in his puff, but big Tam is a popular local figure so nobody ever tells big Tam they know he’s a big fibber
You see how that works? BBC and STV have become bigger purveyors of tripe than the pub, they’ve become the internet with pictures
Perhaps if we get the opporchancety of being stopped by the big English media in Scotland we should just acknowledge all their interviewers as “Big Tam*
But, but, but – (the rate of) inflation is down by a ‘bigger’ percentage than was at first predicted because …… petrol and diesel prices have fallen and the increase in the price of milk, butter and pasta (imagine that, pasta) is slowing down and guess what, Mr Chancellor Hunt says it’s all down to Tory policies which are working. You have to give the Tories credit. They’re always good for a laugh. But before we all get carried away with excitement, don’t forget that our energy prices are rising again from next month.
What the Government in England is essentially saying is that the Arab Emirate oil producing countries run the economies of the world
It’s pathetic, take back control. leave the EU, make our own laws, grow the economy, stop the boats, bring down inflation
But of course all of that is not possible until the Arab states allow us to
The Clearances and the Oil fraud. Thatcher lying snd shutting all the business down in Scotland. Illegally taking the Oil revenues. 15% unemployment, interest rates at 17%, inflation 15%.
The Scottish population has gone up since Devolution 2000. 5.4million. The population was 5million since before 1900. Dipped in the 1950’s. War?
My dad used to say when he came home following the war that if Scotland had had a chance to vote for Independence then they’d have done it without hesitation
While England was dancing in the streets in propagandised celebration having *won* the war, Scotland was not in that delighted cheery frame of mind at all, here there was great sadness at the death toll, relief it was over, and poverty, but most Scots knew that was only until the next time like the last time and the time before that
Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland get no choice in England’s Britain when it comes to their decisions to engage in their chosen wars, Brexit being the most recent example of an English war that Scotland has to suffer they results of
Being British for Scotland and our people is not now and was not then the joy England’s propaganda made it and makes it out to be
If it was not for all the soldiers from other countries crushed under England’s imperial boots fighting against the Nazis alongside English soldiers, England would have readily fallen to Hitler’s armies, just as France did. the only places which might have remained free would be remote areas of Scotland, where resistance groups could operate more freely, just like in the times of the Bruce.
England was just lucky – and us too – that in the great running away that was Dunkirk, the British Isles has a huge moat around it, which bought some time, namely to get armed with decent weapons from the USA etc. Just like Poland, Belgium, France… England’s imperial army was totally and utterly unprepared for the far better equipped / trained German troops.
And ultimately all those colonies that supplied soldiers to England’s army won their freedom because England could hardly justify having the biggest empire in the world, subjugating countries against their will, while signing the praises of freeing European nations from the very same thing.
Has anyone heard a single word in the big English media from any section of Scotland’s communities about being grateful for all the benefits we get from our Scottish government that England have to pay through the nose for?
The list of benefits we all enjoy whether rich or poor in Scotland is a long long list
Here’s just a couple
300 people per week die in England’s A&E just sitting waiting
9 out of 10 Dentist practices in England are refusing NHS patients
I’m sure you can all add a great deal more without even thinking about it, yet the big English media in Scotland seem to keep missing all of these things
Vote Labour vote Tory and you can have and be the same as England
Go on, you know you’re stupid enough says the big English media 24 hours per day
English government is to seek to make Scottish unionist voters pay for the court costs of the Section 35 case. I can’t see how that’s wise, but then I don’t understand the British / English nationalists at all.
I did notice how every single English/British newspaper and TV news carried a story condemning the Scottish government’s budget for not being more friendly to rich people, while oddly ignoring the obvious benefits to those who are not rich, or even poor, both sections of society that far outnumbers the wealthy taxpayer
Donald Tusk has disbanded the Polish State TV station as it was a propaganda tool and not impartial – oh for the right to do away with our imperial broadcasters
Tusk for UK PM!
Based on an article in the National…. This is just to say that I am donating less to the SNP of late. But this is because I am donating more to the local foodbank.
What I am I supposed to do?
People on even higher incomes, such as engineers in the energy industry, are struggling with high mortgage payments, huge power bills, food prices through the roof. They are not going on holidays, to restaurants, not buying new(er) cars, not splashing out on shopping sprees.. (hence the state of Union St.). So even these are having to choose which cause they help, and the natural instinct is to give to where it’s needed immediately.
So we have working class Scots unable to donate to working class political parties such as the SNP, while middle class are now splitting donations between the SNP and foodbanks.
Meanwhile the parties of the rich – Lab/Con/Lib – continue to enjoy large donations from billionairess and corporate interests, and mock the SNP for not getting such right wing backing.
But money does not buy votes, because the data shows that the ability of Scots to donate to political parties is inversely correlated with their desire for independence, naturally. Ironically for unionists, a wealthy, prosperous Scotland in the UK is the enemy of indy, but a poverty stricken one is what drives people to Yes. Yet England is impoverishing Scots, believing that the key to keeping them in the UK. Idiots.
But fear not, for all the corporate money British nationalists have to spend, they end up spending on attacking Scottish unionists, driving these to indy, so in effect, funding the Yes campaign. 🙂
There are no food banks where I live (southern Extremadura in Spain…2 hrs north of Seville). Supermarkets collect at holiday time for food to give to those with little, but people look after each other here.
I am retired, but not yet on my state pension because the English government moved the goalpost without telling me! I do get a small work pension (most of which goes on my grandchildren and rescued dogs and cats). I am an SNP member and I donate to the party. I obviously and understandably, can’t vote for the SNP, so I’m depending on you guys to do it for me. I’ve been wanting an independent Scotland like forever, from before I even realised it was a “thing” to want
My esteem increases. Starmer would never give him one anyway though.
https://archive.is/GGg4O
Mark Drakeford says he would turn down House of Lords seat
Mr Drakeford, who will step down from his role as first minister of Wales in March, has called parliament’s upper house a “democratic anachronism”.
I do have to laugh at the Alba agitators complaining about the SNPs funds, do they not have a party of their own to worry about?
They complain the SNP would have more money if some members hadn’t left, well I can help them with that, members of political parties join and leave with regularity but in the case of the SNP by percentage of the population they are a massive party
But again why are Alba supporters so interested in the SNP?
They claim the SNP should *just dae sumthin* about getting independence, they claim they should just make it happen, they claim timidity
Once again, why don’t Alba *just dae sumthin* if it’s that easy? if it’s only timidity that stands in the way? if it’s, if it’s, if if if
If it’s and buts were treacle and nuts we’d all have a merry Christmas
There is another very good reason why folk withdraw from funding memberships of political parties
They cannae F…..g afford it
Bankers fund the Tories. Trade unions fund Labour. The SNP are funded by the members. So they can make decisions that are more impartial and equal.
The deindustrialisation of Scotland continues.
Major Scottish battery factory enters into administration
https://archive.is/M7O7t#selection-1659.3-1675.153
However, this is in fact a UK company based in Oxfordshire. It is moving to the US to get the subsidies offered by the “Inflation Reduction Act” which is relocating EU industry to the US with enormous subsidies.
AMTE Power consider moving Dundee megafactory to America
https://archive.is/sgNUO
Indeed, “Thurso-based” is total distortion.
The loss of dozens of jobs will have multiplier effects on Thurso, but I suspect what brought the plant there for an Oxford firm in the first place would have been grants and other financial incentives.
What I did find intriguing looking at reporting elsewhere on AMTE going bust, is complete avoidance of the B word, Brexit, the gift that keeps on taking.
It’s not just the Inflation Reduction Act which makes the USA attractive, it’s their entire approach to investment as a basket of risk, some win big some lose, but overall the risk is spread.
Meanwhile the UK government has committed £2 billion to support battery R&D and manufacture – mostly in Sunderland.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-battery-strategy/uk-battery-strategy-html-version
I’m no expert on global economics, but I always thought that the US was a pure capitalist, competitive economy where subsidising industry from public finances and so forth was a no-no and something the Republicans, for example, would be dead against. Just asking out of interest. Have they decided this is the best way to counter China and in so doing could actually do more damage to their ‘allies’ in the West?
That was in reply to Capella’s post at 11.09 pm on the 20th,
I understand the capitalist model to be “The public pay all the costs and the shareholders reap all the benefits” sort of thing. But I’m no economist.
The main effect has been to lure European industry to the US after the sanctions against cheap Russian gas and blowing up Nord Stream 2 obliged the EU to import US fracked LNG at x 4 the price, so costs on EU industry, especially German, are soaring and many have already moved to the US.
But it may well be true that the US effort to reindustrialise is a panic reaction to the growth of China and previous decades of industry moving to Asia for cheap labour.
Did Adam Smith not say that as soon as business men get together they start conspiring against the public. Sharp observer Adam Smith – from Kirkcaldy.
I reckon it’s all a bit like “gamble responsibly” because it’s dangerous and addictive and bad, but on the other hand have some great fun and “PLAY* The lottery
Eh, what?
You may like to know that one of the Directors of AMTE Power is The Rt Hon Sir John Archibald Sinclair VISCOUNT THURSO PC.
Potted biography / BBC puff piece here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12419022
I still blame the Normans!
He was the LibDem MP in the north for a number of years. I met him a couple of times and he was very pleasant, quite down to earth, but he’s a confirmed unionist like all of them and despite what they may tell you about their ‘dedication’ to Scotland, they take their instruction from London, like the LibDemmer we have at the moment. Moans endlessly about the SNP but would rather look to Westminster for enlightenment and guidance. Imagine that these days! Pathetic because there’s no fight in them to change, just go with the flow up the Thames. I’ll never understand these people.
Latest IPSOS UK shows the emerging Labour fall in Labour VI.
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/uk-opinion-polls
Down 5% on November.
Starmer’s person ratings continue there downward trend:
With his leadership competency strongly negative:
You can see how Labour are not losing to Con, unsurprisingly, but to the Greens and Reform. Starmer clearly can’t satisfy both groups departing Labour here, and has opted to try and win back reform voters based on the right wing vote in England being the biggest group.
For example, only Scots and londoners oppose the new spousal salary thresholds. The rest of England supports these. Wales, with its huge English immigrant population is 50/50 split.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2023/12/19/78787/1
Foreign spouses like my wife are not welcomed South of the border.
At this stage ahead of 1997. Labour were polling 53%, ie 10% higher, and Blairs ratings were shooting up.
So Ed Miliband was a vote loser. What happened after 2015?
My post was comparison with starmer and Labour right now using the latest IPSOS, but that is in mod queue due to all the links. The Blair data will make more sense when it appears!
Suffice to say we are very, very far from a 1996 situation right now.
Actually Ed Miliband was a vote winner until he was forced to answer loaded silly questions by the media, and remember the Tories created him as SNP friendly making it appear as though the English were going to have their pockets picked by the SNP in a power sharing parliament
Their parliament
Then they doubled down because that campaign was so successful and did the same thing to Corbyn
I presume that, based on the case of Brianna Ghey, Jonna Cherry will advocate that all women go through an assessment process – inuding an expert psychological examination – to ensure they do not pose a risk to others, including trans people.
Let’s call this basic safeguarding.
No need – there already is a process for assessing and detaining people who pose a risk to others. It is S57 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Scotland Act.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2003/13/section/57#:~:text=57Mental%20health%20officer%27s%20duty%20to%20apply%20for%20compulsory%20treatment%20order&text=(1)Where%20subsections%20(2,in%20respect%20of%20that%20patient.
But that didn’t protect Ghey as it is not a pre-screening process. It’s only used where a risk has already been identified.
If the assailants of Ghey had gone through the same pre screening process as trans do for a GRC, then this could have been avoided according to the arguements of those opposed to self id.
I believe in fairness. Either everyone is assessed risk wise, or nobody is. We should not be singling out specific minorities like trans or black people for different treatment, as that is inherently bigoted / racist.
It’s like how Isreal treats all innocent Palestinians as a terror risk. The UK just singles out trans like this.
They exhibited dangerous traits before they carried out the attack and I would suggest they should have been assessed by a psychiatrist.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67783963
How many times have we heard that some dangerous psychopath was well known to exhibit bizarre behaviour and obsessions long before they end up on a murdering or raping spree.
So you agree that people who have not previously been seen to show dangerous traits should be presumed innocent?
For example, although we know Cherry is sexually attracted to women, because she has no history of voyeurism in the ladies changing rooms that we are aware of, we must presume she does not pose a risk of this, so should be allowed to share such spaces with my wife and daughter. Right?
Likewise, as my transmale nephew has no history of any type of offending, sexual or otherwise, nor has shown any traits such as pathological lying, we should presume innocence and accept he is who he says he is and presents no risk, ergo can be given a GRC by self-id. Right?
This is applying the same rules equally and fairly in both cases for relevant protected characteristics. If a women was to say she needed proof Cherry was not a ‘lesbo perv’ before the latter was allowed into the ladies, I would call that woman a bigot. I apply this rule fairly across the board too, including for in the case of such collective presumption of guilt for trans people.
But then we know each other’s positions and will never agree, so…. 🙂
The belief that a man can turn into a woman and demand access to female spaces is delusional or mendacious.
Men are a danger to women statistically (you like statistics?) and so should not be given access to women’s spaces simply because they assert that they are women, which is impossible.
Sex is a biological category, and a protected characteristic for good reason.
If a predatory male wishes to access women’s spaces, they can easily do so, and have done so for many years, without pretending they’re women.
This idea that men self IDing as women are only doing so to attack women in toilets etc is just stupid.
Och forget my long post. What’s the point. And mods, in fact, you are fine to just delete it for re-hashing old factual / logical arguments that never change anything.
I am just not going to accept being told, in open breach of equality laws, that I’m a ‘danger to women’… That my father is a danger to women… That my brother is a danger to women… without a shred of evidence to that effect, and which could not be further from the truth. You men ‘are a danger to women’ is just a totally unacceptable slur which perpetuates the very sexist conservative stereotypes that hold back sex equality. It’s an English Daily Mail view of the world.
On top of this, I am told by implication, that my natal female transman nephew, like all trans people, is also a high risk to society – again without any evidence presented – so cannot get a GRC without a very public humiliation exercise and diagnosis of mental illness.
I am all for safeguarding of us all from dangerous people out there, whatever sex/gender they are. Be they Isla Bryson, Myra Hindley, Fred & Rose West, or simply very unpleasant thieving Tories like Michelle Mone.
But I cannot stay quiet when the actions of a small number of individuals are used to tar, or even collectively punish (as is the case with the current GRC process), a whole group of people, including me. That is morally wrong, and illegal under both domestic and international human rights laws.
“Men are a danger to women statistically (you like statistics?)”
STATISTICALLY.
97% of violent crimes are committed by men. You like statistics, why don’t you look that up. It’s a bit more than the 3% committed by women.
It’s statistics I’m talking about. Don’t take it personally.
I looked this up.
The recent figures for England and Wales show female violence convictions to be 18%, not 3%.
You missed out sexual offences, Male 98% Female 2%.
Also, don’t forget that the police now record transwomen offences as female offences.
You said ‘violence above’. And to be honest, I made the mistake of initially trusting your made up figures.
I will take great care with your stats going forward. It seems everyone should when these are source link free.
Sex offence data show similar levels when you account for non-reporting to the authorities (by both sexes).
As you will recall, I have been subject to sexual assault by a woman 3 times that I can remember. I didn’t report these due to conservative stereotyping meaning men feel they can’t, but should ‘laugh it off’ or even ‘enjoy it’. The same stereotyping that says ‘men [in general] are a danger to women’.
This is a far more reliable assessment of incidence, and matches my life experience:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sexual-victimization-by-women-is-more-common-than-previously-known/
Sexual Victimization by Women Is More Common Than Previously Known
The results were surprising. For example, the CDC’s nationally representative data revealed that over one year, men and women were equally likely to experience nonconsensual sex, and most male victims reported female perpetrators. Over their lifetime, 79 percent of men who were “made to penetrate” someone else (a form of rape, in the view of most researchers) reported female perpetrators. Likewise, most men who experienced sexual coercion and unwanted sexual contact had female perpetrators.
You know this as I have posted it before often enough, but you close your eyes and cover your ears when it’s discussed.
And ties in with this, where it seems incidence is matching reporting better:
https://archive.is/mjC7u
Female prisoners in Scots jail involved in a quarter of sexual incidents
WOMEN prisoners are involved in almost a quarter of all sexual incidents in Scotland’s jails – despite making up just one in 20 convicts.
Which you also know too, but again close your eyes and cover your ears, so contributing to people being put a risk of harm.
I think you need to come to terms with the fact that the sexes don’t fit your conservative stereotypes.
Just as there are men out there who are a threat to others, so there are women that are a threat too. In far more equal number than conservative stereotypes try to imply.
Your seemingly black and white view is unfortunately blinkered, and society holding such views puts people at risk of harm. Both women and men need to be encourage to report assaults; ‘me too should be for both’. That’s equality.
To reduce harm, we must accurately assess risk. For some, that means accepting hard truths.
But I emphasise that just because there seems to be an equal number of female pervs to those who are men, this does not mean ‘women are a danger to men’, just some women / men are, and we should not tar either generally with the actions of a few, for that is a crime under equality laws.
We should only ever judge a person by their own actions – absolutely never on the basis of a protected characteristic they hold such as their sex / race / religion / LGBT status – and start from a presumption of innocence.
Are you trying to argue that sexual offences are not violent?
You didn’t post a link reference either.
Youv’e posted that Lara Stemple piece several times now. It’s rubbish. Anything can be “more common” than we thought and she, and you, ignore the difference in strength between men and women.
There is really no point discussing complex issues like this with someone who denies science / the findings of experts etc. It is the refusal of people to accept facts that leads to abuse / harm.
18% of convictions for violence in England and Wales were for female perpetrators in recent years. Sexual assault levels seem to be about 50/50 when non-reporting is accounted for.
Female on male violence may be much higher that we know. Just like female on male sex assault, men don’t report physical assault because of sexist stereotypes such as ‘men are stronger than women’ (I’d not use such right-wing conservative stereotyping in front of e.g. feminist female weight lifters / martial arts experts if I were you).
If a man is a decent guy, when his partner punches him in the face or hits him with a heavy object, he won’t hit her back (and she knows it, so abuses that). But then if he’s a ‘big strong man’ like you say, he’ll likely not report it either. When people at work ask about the black eye, he’ll say he was hit by a stray ball or similar; just like many women sadly do in similar circumstances.
At least one third of domestic abuse victims are men:
https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/why-are-men-often-overlooked-as-victims-of-domestic-abuse
WHY ARE MEN OFTEN OVERLOOKED AS VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE?
Rita Broberg, The Centre for Social Justice
If we deny this with sex based stereotypes, so more violent women will be free to continue such abuse.
Here is the original Stemple article in the peer reviewed American Journal of Public Health. I have a suspicion people will consider it a rather more trustworthy source of information than someone ranting on the internet that science is ‘rubbish’.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4062022/
The Sexual Victimization of Men in America: New Data Challenge Old Assumptions
Lara Stemple & Ilan H. Meyer
I note you pass no comment on the extremely stark Scottish prison statistics, which I was totally taken aback by when I fist saw them. But then we all fall victim to conservative stereotyping to varying extents.
Odd that the right-wing press never discussed this in the Isla Bryson case when the risks around sex assault were being discussed.
Have a good xmas.
You do talk the most appalling rubbish on this issue. You’re right, there is no point in discussing this with someone who denies facts and objective reality as you do.
For someone who claims to be a scientist you have no grasp of biology. Simply selecting stats that suit your bias while ignoring others is no substitute for reasoned argument.
More ‘absolute rubbish’ for you. Good recent literature review of the subject of male sexual assault victims.
I note my feminist mother would box my ears if I went around saying stuff like ‘men are strong and women are weak’.
That’s because feminists would never make such sweeping sexist generalisations, it’s social conservatives that do. 🙂
Male Victims of Sexual Assault: A Review of the Literature
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10135558/
…Furthermore, the prevalence reports of male sexual assault vary drastically depending upon the study. Stemple and Meyer (2014) found high prevalence rates of male victimization, approaching that of women, after reviewing five independent surveys by two federal governments [43]. The national crime statistics show 10% of rape victims or 1 in 33 men (3%) have experienced rape [28]. Although the rates of those reporting unwanted sexual contact or pressured intercourse have been reported in the ranges of 38 to 48% for male college students [44], incidence approximates 4% in most studies [42]. Based on the national Criminal Victimization 2019 survey, the percentage of violent victimizations reported to police was higher for female victims (46%) than for male victims (36%). This difference can largely be attributed to reporting of simple assaults, as the percentages of violent victimizations reported that excluded simple assaults were similar for women (47%) and men (46%) [45]. Additionally, male victims reporting unwanted sexual contact or pressured intercourse has been reported in the ranges of 36% to 46% [45]. Among male prison inmates, 59% of male inmates reported some form of childhood sexual abuse. It is likely, however, that the documented rate is likely an underestimation of the magnitude of the problem. Studies also show mixed results regarding who is most at risk. For example, Coxell et al. (1999) reported a higher prevalence in the homosexual male community [46], whereas Isely and Gehrenbeck-Shim (1997) found that heterosexual men are more likely to be victimized (71.4%) [32]. Further, Isely and Gehrenbeck-Shim found that most victims were young (ages 16 to 30) and Caucasian (85%). Whether heterosexual or homosexual, the literature suggests that any man can be a victim of rape [13].
‘Men are stronger than women’
This is why feminists would box the ears of people saying the above:
🙂
While on average males are physically stronger, that is meaningless when applied to individuals, which is what we are always dealing with in real life. No average man nor average woman exists. My sister is pretty tall (and physically athletic), and she tended to date really quite small men (her husband is a fair bit shorter); a pairing I’ve noticed as quite common! Like me and me and my petite wife, but the sexes swapped around.
Which is why sweeping generalisations have no place in complex issues such as sexual assault and physical violence. In my experience of aggressive men, many were smaller / less well built. This probably made them feel inadequate based on your ‘Men are strong’ stereotyping, meaning they needed to prove they were strong through violence. I’d wager they’d have a tendency to resort to using e.g. a knife because they lacked the physical strength of a large man.
So let’s please stop talking about men and how the are strong (or should be) so some stop trying to prove they are strong through aggression. If we go around implying a man should be stronger than a women, it just takes us backwards.
What us your statistic supposed to prove?
Are you saying I, as a man, am a danger to women? That all men are inherently dangerous? Are you arguing that I am more of a danger to women than you are, simply because of protected characteristic I have? looking forward to your answer.
No. I’m saying “statistically”. I’m also saying “Don’t take it personally”.
It’s going to happen whether anyone likes it or not
We’re animals, and animals evolve, and like animals, humans also evolve
Watch David Attenborough, look at the living example of the Galapagos Islands
We are made of the same stuff as a finch’s beak or a monkeys paw and we are changing right now before our own eyes
The only difference with human animals is we have a very much advanced brain over the animal kingdom, but that will lead to even faster evolution than the animals because we can and will engineer it to make it so
And again, whether anyone likes it or not, change is gonna come
What dangerous traits do you have proof of that were known to authorities or their parents prior to the murder. What was said on the news last night was that they had a list of people they wanted to kill. The note from the female convicted of killing Brianna as quoted on the news last night was particularly disturbing These two had access to the dark web and were able to watch torture videos. How were they able to do that where the hell were their parents. These two were age 15 when the murder was committed It was also stated on the news last night they are autistic. Are all autistic people dangerous. No of course not. Poor Brianna probably made it on to their kill list because being trans made her different and having anxiety made her vulnerable. I simply do not believe that the boy referring to Brianna as it was not informed by anti trans ideology as seen on social media and the dark web. It was also stated on news yesterday they are both highly intelligent so not like your average Ian Brady type murdering scum. Easy to throw stones after the event.
Don’t maje me laugh it is exceedingly hard to get anyone detained or even assessed under that Act.
It should be difficult. There should be a high bar. There should be two doctors recommending it and there should be a serious risk of harm to self or others.
The link to the S57 criteria spells it out.
Hmm, yet earlier you said…
The belief that a man can turn into a woman … is delusional or mendacious.
But now you are back to saying medical experts can correctly confirm that trans people are genuine in what they feel / think.
Do you believe media experts delusional?
Law is ultimately made and changed by the will of the people, the law is not and never has been absolute or we’d still be burning witches and putting to death faulty new born children condemning them as minions of Satan
What if John Merrick had been born Jean Merrick would that have ceased the riots and calls for his death because of gender or sex? I don’t think so
The fear of difference is as violent a tool as the fear of God, and that one is still in use by those that fear change for their own status
More often than you would think it is the police who use their powers under mental health legislation who initially take those folk who police perceive are a threat to themselves or others into the care of Mental Health Services particularly as seeing a Mental Health doctor is verging on impossible these days as my friend whose relative suffers from serious mental health issues well knows
I know. I’ve been threatened by a dagger waving psycho who wanted to settle the score with his partner who had taken refuge in my house.
Eventually, the police attended but did not intervene. None of the mental health services wanted to know.
So I agree with what you’re saying. But what is the solution?
If higher tax rates cause greedy Brits to move to England (If someone want’s to leave Scotland because of this, we can fairly safely assume their attachment to Scotland / Scottishness is pretty weak to non-existent), leaving well paid positions for other Scots to take up, that can only be a good thing IMO!
See Norway for example. If it’s happening there, it’s making those that stay much better off than people here in the UK!
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24004906.failure-appeal-block-scottish-gender-reform-sets-bad-precedent/
I totally agree with Aileen McHarg.
“McHarg went on to say that the Outer House decision from Lady Haldane “does not create a binding precedent”.”
Thank goodness for that.
“She said: “If the power is ever used again it will be open to the Scottish Government (or other devolved govts) to rerun arguments for a much more searching standard of review, and to try to challenge some of the other questionable aspects of Lady Haldane’s decision.””
Couldn’t have put it better myself 🙂