Jared 🔶

LGBT+ Lib Dems back calls from Lib Dem MPs to propose amendments to the Equality Act that protect trans rights, and ensure that trans people have a voice in that process. Lib Dem MP Marie Goldman is right when she says trans rights and women's rights are not in competition. This has to be agreed cross-party, so please contact your MP and back the Lib Dems in asking for amendments to protect trans rights now.

Dear Minister for Women and Equalities, Re: Ongoing practical implications of last year's Supreme Court ruling Following the recent High Court decision concerning the challenge brought by the Good Law Project to EHRC interim guidance, I am writing to express my disappointment at the continued uncertainty surrounding the practical implications of last year’s Supreme Court ruling. While the Court has ruled on the question of standing in this case, it is clear that the wider issues remain far from settled. Trans, non-binary and intersex people continue to face profound anxiety about what these developments mean for their daily lives. Meanwhile, employers, service providers and public bodies tell us they still lack clear, workable direction about their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. This persistent uncertainty benefits no one. It risks leaving trans or gender non-conforming people worried about being excluded from facilities they have used for years, and organisations exposed to confusion, legal risk and unnecessary cost. You have repeatedly stated that trans people remain protected from discrimination. Without clear guidance, however, that statement offers little reassurance to those directly affected.

I urge you to bring forward new, workable, and inclusive guidance as a matter of urgency, and to lay any new EHRC code of practice before Parliament so it can be properly scrutinised and debated. There must be a rigorous democratic process, including a free vote, to assess whether the proposals genuinely ensure dignity, safety and inclusion for trans people while upholding the rights of women. I also urge you to appoint a joint committee of cross-party MPs and peers to conduct post-legislative scrutiny of both the Gender Recognition Act and the Equality Act 2010, takinh evidence from communities who have been impacted including trans people, which will propose any amendments or new legislation it sees as necessary to ensure existing rights are protected. The Liberal Democrats are clear that everyone deserves to feel safe, respected and free to be who they are. Protecting the rights of women and ensuring dignity and inclusion for trans people are not competing objectives; both are essential to a fair society. Your Department must now provide leadership and certainty to achieve that balance. I would welcome an update on your timetable for publishing revised guidance and laying it before Parliament, and would be grateful for the opportunity to meet to discuss these matters further. Yours sincerely, Marie Goldman MP, Liberal Democrats Spokesperson for Women and Equalities.

Trans rights and women's rights are not and never have been in competition. Thank you to Marie Goldman for this excellent letter and your work on this.

Frankly my opinion on this is that it's cowardice from the BoE: they were called out for having basically zero (non-royal) women ever on banknotes, and no non-white people, so they're just getting rid of having people on banknotes, rather than address that imbalance.

And the Telegraph is probably one of the more pro-Trump newspapers here in the UK

I reported one the other day (with personalisation off it seems I get an endless stream of bottom-of-the-barrel ads) and it got taken down, I thought maybe I should buy a lottery ticket!

I am probably going to have a UK rail nerd come in in a sec and tell me I’m horribly wrong lol

Somehow the UK runs high speed trains - not what we’d call HSR here, but what would probably pass for it in the US, so speeds in excess of 120mph - on essentially the main lines laid down by the victorians with some tweaks. So it’s possible! But maybe not the most efficient way of doing it haha

What does the sentence after the one about the sample size say? Can you read it for me and tell me what you think that implies about the accuracy of these numbers?

And I fully recognise that's partly because the US has made your choices, in most instance, flying or driving

Oh wow, I didn't realise it was that short! The shortest flight I've ever taken (outside of the odd turboprop island hopping) was replacing a 6-hour rail journey where I had zero spare time at either end and I still feel guilty about that one 😅 I can't believe that's just normal in the US!

A screenshot from Google Maps, in satellite view, showing a motorway next to High Speed 1 in the UK. The motorway is many times wider.

High speed rail has a footprint a fraction of the size of most roads. It’s worth building even through agricultural land - the benefits would be orders of magnitude higher.

Take this motorway in the UK next to a HSR track (HS1 linking London to the channel tunnel in Dover):

The exact same thing happened to HS2 here in the UK, it took a decade to break ground and then the government basically cancelled all the bits of it that mattered while pushing back the timeline further and further. And it turns out the longer you take to build it, the more expensive in the long run

Do you know why it’s gone up to that price?

Presumably it’s because, over the almost two decades since approving it, they’ve changed the plans dozens of times, including making expensive changes to accommodate NIMBYs & cancelling plans already in motion. Plus inflation, and the pandemic.

But you could run HSR down the east coast and up the west coast, and make an eye-popping sum of money while enabling massive modal shift away from driving. Even just joining Boston, NYC, DC would be fantastic.

How do you know that people waving Israeli flags and gleefully celebrating the bombing of schools aren't just doing an elaborate bit?

Come on.

Erm, Occam's razor?

(and I hate that I have to say this or someone will twist my words and misinterpret this, but my condemnation of Hamas is completely uncorrelated with my opinion of Israel and the genocide they're committing)

Well, I'm saying that this arsehole is singing the praises of a terrorist organisation that deliberately murders civilians (specifically, Jewish ones), and has been absolutely awful for the Palestinian people too. Treating I/P like a team sport is not a good sign for not being a racist POS.

To add another point - on a dodgy internet connection, the picture might not load but the alt text will. The amount of time I spend on trains where the wifi barely works *and* I'm bored means I appreciate alt text a lot :)

The HAMAS licence plate suggests otherwise, unfortunately

The HAMAS licence plate though 😬

I was also there last week, I wish I’d taken time to appreciate it

Isn’t “you’re not allowed to love anyone who isn’t the other sex” a way more difficult conversation to have??

Glasgow looks different

It wasn’t obvious to the people who voted for Trump, or the people who stayed home, or the people who voted for third parties for president. And thanks to all those people, we got Trump.

Nobody’s saying they had godlike prescience. Only that they were right: that Trump would do what he said he would do, that Project 2025 was real, and that allowing him to be elected would be a disaster not just for the US but for the world. That rings particularly true for Harris.

I’m watching the show atm, it’s interesting that it’s very much forgone point (b) - I was actually wondering how closely it followed the book and I guess that’s my answer

Looking forward to the alternate history where WW2 Germany all became fascists and fascism is a big part of society

My partner’s American and living there at the moment, so I’ve had almost first-hand experience of how truly shit the system is there!

Sounds like the American healthcare system in a nutshell. Your government actually spends more per capita on healthcare (Medicare, Medicaid, subsidies etc.) than the UK spends on the NHS, because so much goes to private profit, but republicans will claim the system gives them lower taxes.

No, fuck off with this shit.

It said “did nobody say just stop” about her spending on food and then “you banished…your life goals, thanks to your entertainment choices”.

It didn’t just provide information, it passed moral judgement on it. It’s an unacceptable way for a bank to talk to a client.