Corbynomics: A Dystopia

setmefree2

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

The equivalent of a "cabinet" in my workplace is exclusively male. Not because my boss is an evil misogynist bar steward, but because we don't currently have any senior female academics. We don't promote people for the sake of it; the criteria are rigid and quantifiable (no of publications, completed students, research income, etc). Sometimes the best people for the job happen to be male, and in this country, probably white.

Do you really want fairly woeful politicians like Diane Abbot to be promoted, because they tick some very visible boxes? See also Baroness Warsi (not actually elected or electable as an MP) who clearly gets the airtime she does because of her ethnicity and gender rather than anything she does or says.

I don't believe that there are no good female academics - Lucy Worsley and Janina Ramirez are two fantastic academics - just of the top of my head - I'm sure there are plenty more. But you just keep telling yourself that there aren't any and I'm sure it makes you feel better.


Were Liz Kendall & Yvette Cooper really that bad? No - they were women, so the misogynists white males in the Labour Party would never have considered them as leadership material. It was always going to be a man.

lisyloo

Were Liz Kendall & Yvette Cooper really that bad?

Yes.
I'm a woman and I believe positive discrimination can do women a huge dis-service if you promote women who aren't up to the job.
Equality - yes, but no advantages.
Surely anyone who truely believes in equality should want just that because anything that advantages one side is not equality.

Anyone could have joined the labour party for £3 - male or female.
They didn't get in because they simply weren't good enough.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

setmefree2 wrote: »

I don't believe that there are no good female academics - Lucy Worsley and Janina Ramirez are two fantastic academics - just of the top of my head - I'm sure there are plenty more. But you just keep telling yourself that there aren't any and I'm sure it makes you feel better.

Of course there are fantastic female academics. Just not any at senior level currently in our branch of engineering employed at this university. The root of the problem is the lack of girls choosing maths and physics A Levels and then going on to do engineering, which as seen on another thread, is sadly not a career that enjoys high status in our society.

Generali

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Of course there are fantastic female academics. Just not any at senior level currently in our branch of engineering employed at this university. The root of the problem is the lack of girls choosing maths and physics A Levels and then going on to do engineering, which as seen on another thread, is sadly not a career that enjoys high status in our society.

I can well believe that it's hard to find women to promote in engineering right now as few women study engineering.

Policy advice though? Not so much.

gadgetmind

Generali wrote: »

I can well believe that it's hard to find women to promote in engineering right now as few women study engineering.

We have a number of good female engineers in the UK, but it's a minority.

Other countries do much better, regardless of local pay scales, so it's clearly a cultural problem in the UK.

Intoodeep

.string. wrote: »

Already acknowledged - see post 1068. Thank You.

Many apologies for the duplication.

Generali

gadgetmind wrote: »

We have a number of good female engineers in the UK, but it's a minority.

Other countries do much better, regardless of local pay scales, so it's clearly a cultural problem in the UK.

In Aus, NZ and Canada too. I think it might be an Anglo Saxon cultural thing although it would be good to see German or French data to compare.

Hopefully the rather more enlightened attitudes we see towards women in work in general will see these problems overcome in time. Having said that, Mrs G was touched up on the train this week so clearly there is still work to be done.

setmefree2

What is Momentum, and why is it worrying Labour MPs?

Momentum, the grassroots organisation set up in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn's election victory, has caused panic in the ranks of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Many Labour MPs view it as a party within a party; a front for the far-left; a vehicle for ousting those opposed to the Corbyn revolution.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34609114

setmefree2

Leaked memo reveals high-profile Labour MPs are under threat from left-wing activists

Politicians including Harriet Harman, Chuka Umunna and ex-mayoral candidate David Lammy are believed to be among the targets of left-wing activists looking to oust them from their seats

Rochdale Labour MP Simon Danczuk, already subject to a petition calling for his de-selection, said: “With these numbers it’s quite conceivable that some MPs will find themselves having a trigger ballot and facing a potential de-selection.”

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/leaked-memo-reveals-highprofile-labour-mps-are-under-threat-from-leftwing-activists-a3097646.html

The Trotskyist Worker’s Liberty Party has admitted its members helped launch a Momentum branch in Vicky Foxcroft’s Lewisham seat, with the aim of changing delegates sent to party conference next year.


The far-Left Socialist Workers Party has also urged members to join Momentum.
London’s Communist Party declared full support for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on welfare cuts, but failed to spell his name right on the press release.

This is not just a problem for the Labour Party but for the rest of us. A government is only as good as its opposition; it is in all our interests that Labour should be able to hold the Government to account effectively. Yet if the party is not just near-unelectable but preoccupied with fighting internal ideological battles, it will be unfit to fulfil its purpose. This development is bad for democracy.

http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/evening-standard-comment-left-could-undermine-labour-moderate-mps-a3097686.html

Though Frank Field has the answer

Frank Field calls for Labour MPs to stand as independents if deselected

Former minister says MPs should trigger immediate by-elections and run as "independent Labour" candidates if removed.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/10/frank-field-calls-labour-mps-stand-independents-if-deselected

gadgetmind

Looks like a full-blown schism is coming, and sooner than I expected.

It'll all be over by Christmas.