Good Morning, Missouri! Part 1
Update 372
I am splitting this Update into two to make it more digestible, dear readers.
No 35 in the Leading Female Season is Frances McDormand in Martin McDonagh’s brilliant Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. If you want to understand my headline, you’ll have to get to the end of the clip below.😎
Frances McDormand is Mildred Hayes, fighting for justice following the murder of her teenage daughter. Woody Harrelson is the local police chief, Chief Willoughby.
Don’t say ‘what’, Dixon, when she comes in calling you a ‘F***head’!
Thanks as ever to two wonderful readers for suggesting pieces.
Pesutto Apologises
The leader of the Australian Liberal Party , who Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones took defamation actions against for implying that they were neo-nazis following the Let Women Speak event in Melbourne, has apologised to them. Hooray (though I always thought that he didn’t have a leg to stand on)!
Statement from the Leader of the Opposition
Thursday, 16 May 2024
Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones are passionate women's rights activists with long histories of advocacy in Australia and internationally. I agree with them that genuine community concerns regarding women's safety and access to single-sex spaces, services and sport warrant meaningful public discussion.
I strongly believe in the inherent dignity and worth of all people, as expressed in the Liberal Party's We Believe statement and Platform. A Liberal Party I lead will never tolerate hateful and divisive rhetoric, nor abide by Neo-Nazism, white supremacy or other extremist ideologies.
I also believe that all public figures have a responsibility to denounce such extremism in all its forms. I do not believe that it is appropriate to knowingly associate or share platforms with individuals who hold or express these extremist views. I also believe that there is no room to be blithe or cavalier in the face of Neo-Nazism.
I have never believed or intended to assert that Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones are Neo-Nazis. It is also now clear from public statements made by Ms Keen and Ms Jones that they share my belief that Nazism is odious and contemptible.
People engaged in robust public debate do not always have the ability to express themselves perfectly. This is one reason that we should give those we may disagree with some benefit of the doubt.
I recognise that there have been times when my comments could have more clearly differentiated between the organisers of the 18 March 2023 Let Women Speak Rally and the Neo-Nazis who attended the steps of Parliament House on that day.
It has never been my intention to convey that I believed Ms Keen and Ms Jones to be Neo-Nazis, or that they were members of Neo-Nazi groups. As far as my comments may have been misunderstood as conveying that I believed this to be the case, I apologise for any hurt, distress or harm that has occurred.
I also implore all participants in public debate, including online, to behave with respect and decency towards others. I condemn the use of threats, intimidation and abusive language, particularly misogynistic, vile and explicit language that has no place in our society.
I reiterate my condemnation of the Neo-Nazis who attended the steps of Parliament House on 18 March 2023. There is a place for meaningful and sincere public discussion of women's safety and women's rights, but there is no place for Neo-Nazis in Victoria or the Victorian Liberal Party.
Kellie-Jay has very graciously accepted that apology. Former Liberal MP, Moira Deeming continues with her action against Mr Pesutto.
Let Women Speak Oklahoma
I hope this goes well tomorrow.
Time & Location
17 May 2024, 13:00 – 15:00 ( so that will start at 19:00 GMT)
Outside Tulsa County Courthouse, 500 S Denver Ave., Tulsa, OK 74103, USA
Women Won’t Wheesht
Oh no! Another book to buy!
Simon Johnson in The Telegraph (JK Rowling contributes to new feminist book on struggle against SNP’s trans agenda 16 May) reports:
John Phillips/Getty Images Europe© Provided by The Telegraph
JK Rowling has contributed to a new book about feminists’ struggle against the SNP’s trans agenda and how they helped trigger Nicola Sturgeon’s “downfall”.
The Harry Potter author disclosed she had written an essay for the book titled The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht, which she explained “means ‘be quiet’ or ‘hush up’.”
Due to be published on May 30, the book’s synopsis states: “It is the story of women who risked their job, reputation, even the bonds of family and friendship, to make their voices heard, and ended up - unexpectedly - contributing to the downfall of Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first woman first minister.”
Ms Rowling’s chapter explains “why she used her global reach to stand up for women”, with the author regularly posting messages on the issue to her 14.2 million followers on X, formerly Twitter.
She has repeatedly argued that trans women are not women and should not have access to female safe spaces, such as changing rooms.
The author tweeted: “I’m very proud to have contributed an essay to this book, alongside many women I’m proud to call my friends.” It has been compiled by Lucy Hunter Blackburn, eminent policy analyst, and Susan Dalgety, a writer and journalist.
The full article is here:
Rosie Duffield
So Rosie gets 17 minutes with Keir Starmer and no apology. Big deal, eh?
Dominic Penna in The Telegraph ( Starmer meets Labour MP given cold shoulder over gender views 15 May) reports:
Rosie Duffield - JEFF GILBERT FOR THE TELEGRAPH© Provided by The Telegraph
Rosie Duffield has finally met with Sir Keir Starmer after she was given the cold shoulder by Labour over her views on transgender issues.
The Canterbury MP said she held talks with Sir Keir for just over a quarter of an hour, but did not receive an apology over her treatment by the party or senior figures.
Ms Duffield was cleared by party bosses in January after a year-long investigation into transphobia allegations.
She has been heckled by fellow Labour MPs in the Commons while speaking about trans issues, while it was reported last year that a senior aide to Sir Keir briefed against her.
Writing on social media, Ms Duffield said:
Ms Elphicke defected from the Conservatives to Labour last week and met with Sir Keir as soon as she crossed the floor, leading Ms Duffield to respond: “At least one Kent MP got a meeting.”
The full article is here:
The Labour Party
Thanks to a reader for her assessment of the Labour Party:
As an ex Labour member, the thought of such a huge majority for them, terrifies me. If the Labour benches were populated with people with an iota of critical thinking, life skill, brain cell and connection to the wishes of the majority, I might still hold out for FPtPost [ first past the post]. Instead we have a bunch of ideologues who think that people can change sex, that children know ‘who they are’ and should be put on the path to lifelong medicalisation, and that women are bleeders, breeders, cervix havers and should lose all rights along with gay people in order that an insane belief system can compel society to reconfigure itself around the narcissistic demands of a minority. I’m now convinced that power in the hands of such people is tantamount to throwing democracy in the bin. I do have concerns that there is ‘horse trading’ between Parties after an election with PR [proportional representation], but I’m certainly convinced that nothing could be worse than the prospect of a huge majority for a Party which doesn’t have a brain cell, a backbone or an iota of connection to the common sense wishes of the silent majority. The wishes of the silent majority have got to be preferable to disconnected, authoritarian ideologues in the Westminster bubble who think they know best for the plebs.
I don’t disagree with any of that. All thoughts gratefully received, of course.
School Governors
Therapist, James Esses has been doing his brilliant undercover work again!
I is for Ideology: The Indoctrination of School Governors
MAY 14, 2024
In the United Kingdom, the role of school governor is of the utmost importance, given that the governors of a school set its vision, aims and objectives, as well as appointing the Headteacher.
You will imagine my dismay, therefore, when I was contacted by a school governor, who informed me that he and his colleagues had been asked to undergo training in ‘Gender Identity’. He was so shocked by the ideological propaganda that he and his fellow governors were being asked to swallow, that he wanted me to make the content public. That is the purpose of this article.
The training is delivered by Metro, which describes itself as “an equality and diversity charity providing health, community and youth services in England”.
Worryingly, Metro are partners with and funded by the NHS, the Department for Health, the National Lottery, The Kings Fund and various local authorities and councils.
The title of the training is ‘Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Awareness and Inclusion’ and it is being rolled out to all school governors in the London Borough of Bexley.
The trainer from Metro is called Esri Chippendale (He/They). Make of that what you will.
The training begins in the usual fashion, with a mission statement to “raise awareness of gender identity…consider lived experience…and create safer spaces”. Strangely, a pre-emptive trigger warning is offered to attendees, who are instructed to “consider self-care and self-soothing” during the session.
Self-soothing? I have a mental image of a school governor rocking back and forth in the corner of the room, sucking on a dummy. This is meant to be training for professional adults, not nursery children.
The full piece is here and I recommend it:
https://www.jamesesses.com/p/i-is-for-ideology-the-indoctrination?r=7ogxh&triedRedirect=true
Schools
The Tory Government are actually beginning to do things!! But are they leaving it too late as we head for a General Election?
They have produced draft guidance for schools which is out for consultation. Looks like a good start to me. Let’s get it in place asap.
They are taking action re DEI - see further below. This is GREAT! Let’s get it into force as soon as possible.
Aidan Radnedge in The Mail Online ( Row breaks out over sex education ban for under-9s: School heads' fury with ministers accused of 'using pupils like political footballs' - while MPs split along party lines 16 May) reports:
A furious row broke out today over the Government's proposed sex education ban for children aged under nine.
School heads and MPs have criticised the proposals being brought forward by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan which include ruling that gender identity is a 'contested subject that should not be taught' in schools.
She will unveil proposals for a total ban on sex education for infant children, with lessons not permitted to start until at least Year Five.
Parents will also be given the right to see the material their children are being taught.
But there has been a backlash today with ministers accused of 'politicising' sex education and using pupils as 'political footballs' - though others have welcomed the planned reforms.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan
There has been both criticism and support for the move from politicians on X, formerly Twitter
What are the existing rules on Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE)?
Education on relationships has been compulsory in primary schools since September 2020.
Children are taught about physical health, parts of the body and puberty - as well as healthy and respectful relationships within family and friends.
Schools are encouraged to inform pupils about different types of families and same-sex relationships.
Secondary school pupils are given mandatory relationships, sex and health education - including content on sex, consent, online abuse, domestic abuse and female genital mutilation.
Parents can remove their children from some sex education classes but not relationships education.
In a surprise move, ministers have decided to make the guidance statutory, meaning that schools will have to comply by law.
One government source said Rishi Sunak believed the rules around sex education for the youngest children needed to be made 'much tougher'.
Under the current rules, 'relationships education' begins when children start primary school at the age of four and can be supplemented with sex education using 'age appropriate material'.
The Prime Minister ordered a review after Tory MPs produced evidence that 'age-inappropriate, extreme, sexualising and inaccurate' content was being taught to young children across Britain.
The article concludes with quotes from Tory MPs, Miriam Cates and Nick Fletcher.
Ahead of the guidance being issued, Mrs Cates said: 'For too long activist groups have been pushing a politically motivated agenda on children under the cover of RSHE. We need compulsory guidance to restore common sense and the rights of parents to know what their children are being taught.'
And fellow Tory Nick Fletcher added: 'Our schools, and what they have been teaching children about sex and gender, have played a role in funnelling vulnerable children towards a pathway of irreversible damage.
'Such has been the reach of the gender ideologues that there is not one simple 'quick fix'. Education Ministers are well aware that action is needed. Officials have been working on solutions. Some have been long promised. But it is taking too long - we need to act now.'
The full article is here:
You can find the details of the consultation here and I shall be looking out for responses from some of our main Gender Critical groups:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-rshe-statutory-guidance
EDI Jester was delighted 😊
Unfortunately Ms Keegan was still troubled with what a woman is in an interview with Emma Barnett on Radio 4 today!!! (Barry gets her name wrong in his introduction). The BBC reporting this !! Wonders will never cease. Emma Barnett does a good job at trying to pin down Ms Keegan but also claims that she has been dealing with this issue for four years on Woman’s Hour. Really, Emma!? Pull the other one, it’s got bells on!
Diversity Equity and Inclusion
As we know DEI departments are often the method by which the gender madness is brought into organisations including the Civil Service.
Camilla Turner in The Telegraph ( Civil Service diversity jobs will be scrapped 11 May) reports:
Civil Service diversity jobs will be banned in a new crackdown on Whitehall “woke” spending, The Telegraph can reveal.
In a radical overhaul aimed at ending the “back-door politicisation” of the Civil Service, mandarins will be ordered not to hire any new staff dedicated to boosting diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI).
Under the plans, there will no longer be any jobs in Whitehall devoted solely to diversity.
Managers will be forbidden from hiring third-party DEI contractors, and officials whose jobs are currently focussed solely on diversity will be transferred into human resources teams and given broader remits.
Esther McVey, the Cabinet Office minister, is concerned that Whitehall managers are becoming distracted by “woke hobby horses” rather than delivering their core functions.
In an announcement this week, she will warn that the public sector must not become a “pointless job creation scheme for the politically correct”.
Writing for The Telegraph, she said the amount of staff time devoted to diversity and inclusion schemes is a “major concern”.
“Indeed, we have some employees in the public sector whose only role is to ensure that departments are meeting diversity targets,” Ms McVey said.
“Time and money which should be spent on the core purpose of the public sector – delivering for the public – is being wasted on woke hobby horses and I’m determined to stop it.”
New guidance on third-party expenditure
Officials will also be banned from spending their department’s budget on external DEI campaign groups, experts or consultants.
Ms McVey said that most of these programmes are not transparent about what impact, if any, they have, adding that their benefits are “unproven to say the least”.
New guidance will be issued to all government departments on third-party expenditure on diversity, making it clear that this can only take place with express sign off and clearance from ministers.
In October, the Chancellor launched a review into all public spending on diversity jobs. Government departments and quangos were ordered to assess how much they had spent on such roles and report their findings to the Treasury.
The review, which identified £27 million worth of spending across Whitehall in just over six months, has now concluded and its findings have been passed to the Cabinet Office.
Department chiefs summoned
Ms McVey has summoned heads of departments and quangos that have spent the most on equality and diversity schemes for a meeting, where she will ask them to explain how this spending has benefitted taxpayers.
Ms McVey said: “Diversity in the Civil Service should never just be measured in terms of race and sex; it should also be about background and differences of opinion and perspective which has not always been the case. Above all it should be about merit.
“However, some managers feel that this doesn’t reflect their reality; and spend millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on advice from so-called equality professionals.”
She questioned whether this is “really what we should be spending people’s hard-earned taxes on” adding that people want their public servants to be “getting on with the job of making their lives easier, not engaging in endless internal discussions about ideology”.
Ministers have become increasingly concerned about the amount of time and money being spent on diversity jobs and initiatives in recent years.
Great stuff, Ms McVey 😊
The full articles is here:
Endpiece
Nine quid for two ice creams!! (thanks to my wife for this)
https://twitter.com/cyp_toon/status/1790674048919232890
It was very gracious of KJK to accept Pessuto’s apology so fully. I think it was a weaselly apology, born out of fear of litigation. Let’s hope she’s right to feel so positive for the women of Australia.
Caroline Lucas saying that the govt is politicising sex Ed is a spectacular level of DARVO. At least the Greens are good for a laugh if nothing else.
I think the assessment of Labour is a tad generous. Considering that Starmer thinks that Wales, with all its adherence to an insane ideology, is the model for his govt in the rest of the Uk, I think that a few more adjectives need to be added. How about cowardly, snivelling, sneering, grovelling, backtracking, morally bereft, lying, two faced, brain dead automatons incapable of seeing the harm that is being done to children and society in the name of progressive politics. If left to Labour, that utterly shocking training revealed by James Esses, will continue to be the norm across the UK. That is truly a terrifying prospect. I’m glad that the Tories are taking action, but is it too little, too late? And get bloody Keegan out of education.
The £9 ice creams have made the MSM! 😁
Thanks Dusty, really useful evidence of the horrors of what’s been happening in education.