The tide is finally turning against woke radicals

For too long, tough ministerial rhetoric on confronting extreme gender ideology was not met with accompanying action. Senior Conservatives criticised Labour’s ridiculous contortions on matters like gender self-ID, social transitioning in schools, even on the very definition of a woman, while doing far too little as public institutions continued to adopt a misguided – sometimes even dangerous – approach to the trans issue. In recent months, the situation has slowly begun to change. Thanks largely to the efforts of Kemi Badenoch, the Equalities Minister, new schools guidance should give teachers greater confidence to resist the demands of radical activists, with parents meant to be put at the heart of decisions concerning their children. Ministers have accepted the recommendations of the Cass review, meanwhile, and puberty-blockers are no longer routinely prescribed by the NHS. Now, the Government is launching a consultation on updating the NHS constitution for England, a move that could permit patients to request to be treated in single-sex hospital wards based on biological sex. This would be a sensible and proportionate change, reflective of the fact that many women will feel more comfortable being looked after in a female-only ward. A right to be treated by a doctor of the same biological sex for intimate care could also be enshrined in the constitution, while terms such as “chestfeeding” could be banned. Doubtless, these announcements will be met with the usual outcry from groups such as Stonewall, but that should not stop the Government from going further in other areas. There is widespread concern, for example, about the use of third-party educational materials in schools, some of which have been found to promote highly controversial views on gender. There have also been calls to overhaul the Equality Act, to give greater protections on the grounds of biological sex. Thanks largely to the efforts of a very small number of exceptionally brave women – JK Rowling among them – the trans debate has been utterly transformed in the last few years. The gender extremists are clearly in retreat, and their dogmas are finally being exposed to proper evidencebased scrutiny. Politicians have begun to recant their previously unthinking support for policies that were causing active harm. But there is a long way to go before the legacy of the errors made in the past few years is fully addressed. In particular, the woke ideology that buttressed the gender extremists remains embedded in far too many organisations. It has to be rooted out once and for all.

Vote Conservative

The local and mayoral elections this Thursday are more than a mere barometer of national sentiment ahead of the general election this year. They are a chance to punish Left-wing politicians who have imposed a pernicious anticar, pro-crime, anti-growth agenda across swaths of the country – and reward those who have resisted it. Nowhere is this clearer than in London, where Sadiq Khan’s misgovernance, failures on crime, and embrace of authoritarian green measures have turned the capital into a much harder, less pleasant place to live for millions of people. The Ulez extension, the multiplication of 20mph zones, and the spread of low-traffic neighbourhoods are causing outrage, but the mayor has refused to compromise. He has done too little to end the scourge of violence, and has failed to hold the Metropolitan Police to account for its appeasement of anti-Semitic hate on the anti-Israel marches. Mr Khan has raised taxes considerably, overseen a disastrous deterioration in Transport for London’s finances, and allowed City Hall staffing costs to surge. His Conservative opponent, Susan Hall, fully deserves Londoners’ support. She has pledged to scrap the Ulez expansion on day one and refocus attention on the basics like tackling crime. She sensibly wants to cut City Hall staff and TfL perks to fund police officers. She has called on the Met to arrest more “thugs” at the anti-Israel protests, saying she will support officers to properly enforce the law. For the first time, the London mayoral election is being run on the first past the post system, meaning backing any of the other Right-wing candidates would be a wasted vote. Mrs Hall also has a real chance of securing victory – despite the limited support she has received from the national party. A strong Tory turnout could make all the difference. The same is true across the country. Andy Street has proved highly successful as Tory mayor of the West Midlands. Ben Houchen has attracted new private sector investment and jobs to the Tees Valley. Tory councils are invariably better-run than their Labour equivalents, demonstrating that it is perfectly possible to have effective public services and lower taxes. Rather than using this week’s elections as a means for expressing dissatisfaction with the Government, we hope voters will see them as a chance to back good candidates who will deliver good governance. That means voting Conservative.