Since returning from the Battle of Ideas I have been wading through the immense backlog. I have shunted some items forward for later consideration. If I haven’t responded to your e-mail or comment, apologies and please re-send it. For the moment we have: clinical trials; the Filia conference; NCHIs; more on two-tier justice; and a report from Australia on men in women’s prisons.
Onwards with the Dusty, Nicola and Moodie Film Series. Please keep the suggestions for films coming in but please check the list first which I am updating as we go along. Please send suggestions in the comments here at this link:
Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1950 American comedy film based upon the autobiographical book Cheaper by the dozen (1948) by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. The film and book describe life in a family with twelve children.
Dusty - how times change. My Mum and Dad had roughly that number of children in their families in the early 20th century!!
Time-and-motion study and efficiency expert Frank Bunker Gilbreth Sr. and his wife, psychologist Lillian Moller Gilbreth, raise 12 children in 1920s Providence, Rhode Island and Montclair, New Jersey. Frank employs unorthodox teaching methods with his children, who clash with their parents.
Clifton Webb is Frank
Myrna Loy is Lillian
Thanks to two wonderful readers for suggested pieces.
Some of the linked pieces below may be behind a paywall.
Clinical Trials of Puberty Blockers
I am rather shocked that Bernard Lane on his substack, Gender Clinic News has featured a Professor Susan Bewley who feels that clinical trials of puberty blockers are not necessarily unethical. I completely and utterly disagree and have reported on this several times including here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/but-youre-so-damned-ugly?utm_source=publication-search
Don’t prejudge a trial
It is too soon to say that an ethical trial of puberty blockers is impossible
Oct 19, 2025
Pre-emptive opposition to the idea of any clinical trial of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria is mistaken because there may be ethical trial designs capable of answering a series of research questions about the effects of these drugs, according to an advocate for evidence-based medicine, Professor Susan Bewley.
“Many people think a clinical trial with random allocation of participants to treatment and control groups would be unethical,” Professor Bewley told GCN.
“There is a wide range of viewpoints. Some people believe it’s a human right to have certain medical interventions offered by autonomous clinicians for identity indications. Others believe this is bad medicine or maybe does not belong within the scope of medicine at all.
“The claim of being ‘unethical’ is made of two parts: the quality of the science (bad science is always unethical); and the information and risks participants undergo (protected by research integrity and law).
“When there are actual medical uncertainties, many of us believe it’s unethical not to do research which could be collaborative and worldwide.
“Other trials of more dangerous medications—for example, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for childhood cancers—have been ethical to test, even as they have lifelong impacts on children’s health and development.
“It’s surely wrong to take against all trials of puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones because each one is designed to answer a different initial question. We can’t make a blanket comment on the ethics as each research question is different.”
Dusty - Aside from the evidence that I have previously relied on which makes it abundantly clear why such a trial would be unethical, clearly the risks of a trial to try and resolve childhood cancers is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the risk of a a trial for something which is impossible ie. you can’t change sex. As she touches on, this ‘does not belong within the scope of medicine at all.’
To use an EDI Jester phrase, ‘get in the bin, Professor Bewley’!
All thoughts gratefully received. The full piece is here:
https://www.genderclinicnews.com/p/dont-prejudge-a-trial?publication_id=627677&r=1v403b
The FILIA Conference
I hadn’t got around to reporting on the recent conference organised by feminist group, Filia, so I am very grateful to Nutmeg on the Glinner Update for providing a comprehensive report. This is possibly the largest feminist conference in the world. The night before it opened trans rights activists attacked the building and broke loads of windows and sprayed graffiti everywhere. The next day they were there again to shout at women as they came to the conference.
But, as Nutmeg says, much more shocking ‘were reports that some of the attendees had distressing experiences when some of the speakers conveyed anti-Israel sentiments and dismissed the horrors of the October 7 atrocity. Nicole Lampert’s report on the conference details evidence of anti-Semitic attitudes from the opening plenary onwards. Chair of Black Southall Sisters [ Dusty - this should actually be Southall Black Sisters] , Rahila Gupta, refused to condemn the Palestinian terrorist organisation, Hamas, in her speech. She referred to the ‘fascist government’ of Israel and ‘Zionist agendas’, and alluded to the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’, which calls for the eradication of Israel and all Jews from the Middle East. She also led an audience chant of ‘free Palestine’.’
Nutmeg’s piece is here ( along with lots of other important news, as ever):
Well done to those who stood out against this support of real fascism ( I am sure my readers will agree that Hamas truly deserve the title ‘fascists’): Julia Long who walked out after the plenary session ( an interview with her by Josh Howie on Free Speech Nation is included in Nutmeg’s piece); Jean Hatchet and her partner who were banned from the conference ( for taking photos of Jewish women being intimidated); Aja the Empress and DJ Lippy who were banned when they turned up on the second day for allegedly causing trouble at the disco the night before - this was not true, of course, and it appears that their banning stems from Milli Hill saying that she felt intimidated by the mere presence of Aja - for the record Aja is a lovely woman - I had a brief chat with her at the Battle of Ideas; Julie Bindel ( not sure why she was banned but she was); Bev Jackson of LGB Alliance who reported on the awful anti-semitic leaflets that were available on one stall.
I was also personally appalled at the involvement of the Chair of Southall Black Sisters - back in the day they were an excellent organisation.
Kellie-Jay has separately addressed the speech of Ms Gupta and the banning of Aja.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_L6zWz8g5M
All thoughts gratefully received.
UK - Non-Crime Hate Incidents
Some great news here on one of my pet hates!!
See the last update for discussion of this bonkers subject at the Battle of Ideas.
Graham Linehan reports:
The police have informed my lawyers that I face no further action in respect of the arrest at Heathrow in September. After a successful hearing to get my bail conditions lifted (one which the police officer in charge of the case didn’t even bother to attend) the Crown Prosecution Service has dropped the case. With the aid of the Free Speech Union, I still aim to hold the police accountable for what is only the latest attempt to silence and suppress gender critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men.
https://x.com/Glinner/status/1980288054016590157
Julia Hartley-Brewer reports:
BREAKING: The Metropolitan Police have said they will “no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents”. This is after the announcement that Father Ted creator Graham Linehan would face no further action over social media posts about trans activists. Are we FINALLY to see an end to this madness???!!!!!
https://x.com/JuliaHB1/status/1980313432495653348
Dusty - here’s hoping, now let’s get rid of the rest of Hate Crime!!!
EDI Jester picks up on this:
Feminist Legal Clinic also report on this:
Met to end all non-crime hate investigations | The Telegraph
By FLC Admin on October 21, 2025
All entries on Feminist Legal Clinic’s News Digest Blog are extracts from news articles and other publications, with the source available at the link at the bottom. The content is not generated by Feminist Legal Clinic and does not necessarily reflect our views.
Britain’s biggest police force has announced it will no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents.
The Metropolitan Police said it hoped the move would provide a “clearer direction for officers”, allowing them to focus on criminal investigations.
The force said incidents would still be recorded for intelligence purposes but officers would not get involved in “policing toxic culture war debates”.
An NCHI is defined as an incident that falls short of being criminal but which is perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person with a particular characteristic.
Police forces are supposed to record them only when there is a serious risk of significant harm that could escalate into criminality, and not just because someone feels offended.
But last year more than 13,000 NCHIs were recorded across England and Wales and campaigners have warned of their chilling effect on free speech.
Although having an NCHI recorded against a person does not constitute having a criminal record, it may show up on an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check, potentially affecting their employment prospects.
Mr Linehan welcomed the Met decision but said he still intended to take legal action and sue the Metropolitan Police for wrongful arrest and interference with his free speech rights.
“With the aid of the Free Speech Union, I still aim to hold the police accountable for what is only the latest attempt to silence and suppress gender critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men.”
Source: Met to end all non-crime hate investigations
Battle of Ideas - Two-Tier Justice
This excellent session at yesterday’s event was the subject matter of my last two updates. One of the panelists, Sarah Phillimore has now done a piece on this on her substack:
Battle of Ideas: What next when we all agree?
The Policing Panel on Sunday 19th showed a Panel and an audience unanimous; our police have lost their way. So where do we go now?
Oct 20, 2025
On Sunday 19th October 2025 I was delighted to join the Policing Panel at the Battle of Ideas made up of me, Hardeep Singh, Luke Gittos and the fabulous gravel voiced [ Dusty - do you mean Cockney, Sarah 😂] Peter Bleksley.
TL:DR
The question posed was
Does policing need wholesale reform to restore trust, or is the real challenge persuading the public it remains even-handed? Are accusations of two-tier policing justified, or just a cynical victimhood narrative hyped-up to make partisan political points? In a world where everyone can record and broadcast instantly, can policing survive the court of public opinion?
The unanimous answers given were yes and yes, yes, no, and no.
The discussions
I set out my live tweeting of the event below; what particularly struck me were the comments of Peter Bleksley - that the police should be concerned with only two groups of people; victims and criminals. The first should be supported and protected, the second investigated and caught.
Luke Gittos and Hardeep Singh had changed their speeches to reflect their anger and concern at the recent treatment of a protestor wearing a Star of David; the police perception is that he was detained for breaching laws to keep groups of protesters apart, others were concerned that was further illustration of the police treating different groups differently. Peter Bleksley made the point that the police should operate to keep people safe and illustrated how a trained and competent police officer could de-escalate that situation without resorting to arrest.
I replied that this was exactly the kind of police force I would welcome and trust - but sadly if the police came to my door now, I would close it. And once you have lost the trust of the middle aged, middle class women, the police do not have much further to fall.
The unanimity of the Panel prompted an observation from the audience - ‘this is supposed to be the Battle of Ideas. But you all agree. It’s a massacre. There isn’t even time now to straw man the opposite position’.
This observation was of course correct but insofar as it was a suggestion that we missed something valuable in not giving air time to a respectable opposing position, I don’t agree. There simply is not a respectable opposing position. The police have a statutory duty of impartiality. They have time and time again failed to show they understand this duty and will abide by it. A failure to police without fear or favour will erode trust and confidence in the police and along with it the rule of law and the health of our democracy.
The real and urgent question must be - what can we realistically do about this.
I set out some of my thoughts before the Panel in this post. My suggestions fell under the broad headings of better training for the police particularly around the importance of article 10 ECHR, and an end to victim perception based recording of crimes. If these aims could be achieved, I think this would tackle most if not all of the current problems and would certainly give us recorded crime statistics that might actually tell us something. The laws we have might actually work, if they were seen through the lens of article 10 ECHR and political impartiality. ‘Hate’ is a sensible aggravator for a sentence for any crime, but making it the focus of police operations has allowed its hijack by the mentally ill and malicious.
As is my wont, I was approaching change from the position of LawFare, or the ‘catch and kill’ policy - using the courts to restore rights that are under threat.
I had to accept the serious limitations to this policy. I had discussed with Harry Miller a few days earlier what would I say if asked - you have had six years of LawFare and the police are still refusing to obey the law! What good have you done? I was keenly aware that Harry has just issued action against the IOPC for their lack of impartiality aroud issues of gender ideology, and I am about to issue against Wiltshire Police for their refusal to abide by the recent ruling of Linden J against Northumbria, for marching with Northern Pride.
Dusty - I don’t even agree that ‘hate’ is a ‘sensible aggravator’ for a crime, but I certainly think that ‘hate’ should not be a crime in itself!!! Plus the prosecution of hate crimes is in direct conflict with the common law protection of free speech now encapsulated in Article 10 of the Human Rights Act. I always come back to Lord Justice Sedley in Redmond-Bate v Director of Public Prosecutions [1999] EWHC Admin 733:
‘Free speech includes not only the inoffensive but the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and the provocative provided it does not tend to provoke violence. Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having. What Speakers’ Corner (where the law applies as fully as anywhere else) demonstrates is the tolerance which is both extended by the law to opinion of every kind and expected by the law in the conduct of those who disagree, even strongly, with what they hear.
The full piece from Sarah is here:
Australia - Men in Women’s Prisons
OMG it is bad in Australia!!!! Jenny Nabben reports on the Glinner Update:
A War on Vulnerable Women: Paedophiles and Rapists in Australian Women’s prisons
Vulnerable women are collateral damage in the push to embed gender identity ideology.
Oct 20, 2025
Recent media coverage of the paedophile, Autumn Tulip Harper has ignited widespread fury in Australia, and exposed deep fissures in how gender identity trumps the rights of women in the criminal justice system.
Harper, a 26-year-old man from Victoria, who identified as a ‘woman’ after his arrest was sentenced in July 2024 in the County Court to four years and nine months’ imprisonment for the persistent sexual abuse of his five-year-old daughter.
Police raided Harper’s home in September 2023 following a tip-off by U.S. investigators who seized his phone and found evidence of 77 abuse incidents, including images of his naked daughter in sexual poses and videos of Harper kissing and licking her.
Harper shared child sexual abuse material via Discord with an American paedophile known as “Samuel Booth,” whom Harper described as his online “master” in a BDSM relationship. Harper claimed that the abuse was committed to “keep Booth happy” and gain validation.
During the trial, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Rajan Darjee argued for a lighter sentence because he claimed Harper was “hormonally female” and his actions aligned with a “female pattern” of abuse claiming there was no risk of reoffending.
In the sentencing of Harper, Judge Nola Karapanagiotidis imposed a non-parole period of just two years and six months, far below the 25-year maximum by citing Harper’s “gender dysphoria” and a “tough childhood” as mitigating factors.
Harper was placed in the Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre (DPFC) with a history of housing trans-identified male sex offenders with female inmates.
The prison also has a history of assaults and suicides and is plagued by chronic understaffing exacerbated by high absenteeism and burnout. There have been at least 106 all-day lockdowns recorded since July 2024.
Victorian paedophile, Autumn Tulip Harper
State-sanctioned punishment of vulnerable women
Tony Cameron is another trans-identified man currently housed at DPFC following his convictions for attempting to rape a woman on a Melbourne street and sexually abusing his own six-year-old daughter over multiple incidents.
Cameron was initially placed in a men’s prison where he adopted a ‘trans’ identification which was used to justify his transfer to DPFC in August 2022. Cameron was placed in the DPFC’s Murray Protection Unit intended for vulnerable female inmates who are survivors of male violence.
Dozens of female inmates petitioned Corrections Victoria and described Cameron as “intimidating” and a “predator,” who harassed them in shared bathrooms and showers.
The female inmates said their ‘severe mental wellbeing was compromised’ due to the presence of Cameron and reported panic attacks, flashbacks and sleep disturbances, with one inmate stating:
‘We are terrified every day.…this man has raped women before, and now he’s in our space.’
Despite this, the Victorian Human Rights Commissioner, Ro Allen (they/them) rejected the women’s petition and defended the policy as “human rights based.” Allen said there was “no substantiated evidence of risk” despite Cameron’s violent sexual history. Cameron remains housed at DPFC as of 2025.
Ro Allen - the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner
Jenny concludes on the fightback in Australia:
Women’s Forum Australia’s CEO Rachael Wong gathered over 12,000 signatures and petitioned the Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan to remove men from women’s prisons.
Women’s Rights Network Australia has written to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese to call for the resignation of the SDA Commissioner, Anna Cody arguing that her intervention in the Giggle v Tickle case, her recent Press Club speech, and her evidence at the Constitutional Affairs Committee make it clear that she conflates “sex” with “gender identity,” effectively dismantles women’s hard-won rights.
Lia Finocchiaro, the Northern Territory opposition leader, became the first Australian leader to announce a ban on men in women’s prisons stated that it was “absurd” to house men in female facilities, especially amid Australia’s domestic violence crisis, which she described as the nation’s shame.
Sall Grover, CEO and women’s rights activist wrote to the Attorney General, Michelle Rowland to request an amendment the SDA to protect women as a biological sex class
Australians await the ruling of Sall Grover’s cross-appeal from the Justices in the Giggle v Tickle case in which her lawyers argued that the definition of “woman” and “sex” in anti-discrimination law under the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) means biological sex and not ‘gender identity’.
If Grover loses the appeal there will be a further and final appeal to the High Court while Tickle, with support from the Human Rights Commission will also likely appeal to the High Court.
Until the Sex Discrimination Act is amended - women like Veronica Marie Nelson, Heather Calgarett and many, many other Australian women will be forced to accept predatory, sexually violent men in their prisons, sports and spaces.
For an in-depth understanding of the history of men in women’s prisons you can listen to Episode 5, Season 2 of Desexing Society and follow
Please follow and raise the voices of women and women’s organisations speaking out on this issue.
The full piece is here:
Terf Island Discs
Thanks to an excellent suggestion from Tenaciously Terfin, we have paused Endpieces for the time being and we are giving Tenaciously and Liz a well earned rest from their hard work. So, since 07 July, we have been running Terf Island Discs.
Several readers have chosen up to 6 songs or pieces of music each and we are going through those one at a time in each update. We are going to continue it a bit further before returning to Endpieces and you can now choose up to 8 songs or pieces of music each. They need to be reasonably short. We can’t expect to have readers listening to the whole of Holst’s The Planets, albeit it is magnificent.
They don’t have to be from Terf Island BTW - anywhere in the world 😊
So for those who have already chosen 6, please choose 2 more and, if you have not yet taken part, please choose 8!! And if you have chosen from 1 to 5 so far, please top that up to 8. If you repeat a song or piece of music that has already been chosen, I’ll let you know and you can choose another one.
Please let us have a link if you can.
Please send your choices in the comments section at this link:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/the-house-of-the-rising-sun-terf
Next up!
Chosen by: Radical Cartoons
‘Secret Love’ by The Balham Alligators
#BeMorePorcupine
#TranswomenAreMen
#AdultHumanFemale
#LetWomenSpeak
#LGB✂️TQ
#SpeakOutMore
#HoldTheLine
#BeMoreDissident
#NeverSurrender
#NeverForget
#TruthWillTriumph
#WeWillWin
To Professor Susan Bewley: I believe every sentient human on planet earth knows that sex is binary and immutable. How did you acquire your professorship? Was your advancement an EDI project? Just asking.
Hooray for the end of NCHI investigations! Thanks to Lords Hogan-Howe and Young 🙏
KJK is so right in her analysis of the disgraceful antisemitism paraded at the FILIA conference, & as for the hijabs on sale there: words fail me. Words very much do not fail me in my utter contempt for middle class feminists with their intersectional bollocks & their snooty attitude to other women; they can fuck right off! to live in their snobby and privileged ghetto.
Australia is an utter Bedlam; very glad there’s so much fight back against rampant misogyny.
Looking forward to Helen Joyce’s report. I remember when Kathy Kirby sang ‘Secret Love’; she was my dad’s favourite. Thanks for the memory.
Thanks for the update, Dusty, on such a wide-ranging & thorough report. 💚🤍💜
#BeMorePorcupine #LGB ✂️TQ+ #DownWithThisSortOfThing In honour of Glinner
Agree with all your talking points Dusty, really shocking from Bernard Lane and Filia. Since when did Millie Hill join the ranks of the permanently offended cancel brigade?
Thanks as ever. And so pleased for Glinner and by the fact that he’s going to sue the police. They need a boot up the backside…..and that’s not an incitement to violence, just an old expression. 🤦🏻