Rosie Duffield – long-time gender-critical thorn in Labour's side – has finally had enough. It was the sleaze what did it:
Duffield, 53, has become the fastest MP to jump ship after a general election in modern political history. She is writing to the prime minister today informing him of her decision to resign the whip “with immediate effect”.
In her excoriating resignation letter, Duffield condemned Starmer for accepting gifts worth more than £100,000, including clothing, glasses and accommodation paid for by Lord Alli, the Labour peer.
“The sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice are off the scale,” she wrote. “I am so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party.”…
However, it is the internal criticism which will concern Starmer most. Duffield wrote to him: “As prime minister, your managerial style and technocratic approach, and lack of basic politics and political instincts, have come crashing down on us as a party after we worked so hard, promised so much, and waited a long 14 years to be mandated by the British public to return to power.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous. I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.
“How dare you take our longed-for victory, the electorate’s sacred and precious trust, and throw it back in their individual faces and the faces of dedicated and hardworking Labour MPs?”
Ouch.
Gender handmaiden Nadia Whittome was quick off the mark:
No matter your views on her stated reasons for quitting, Rosie Duffield has made a political career out of dehumanising one of the most marginalised groups in society.
She should never have been allowed the privilege of resigning. Labour should have withdrawn the whip long ago.
— Nadia Whittome MP (@NadiaWhittomeMP) September 28, 2024
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The replies have been, well…robust:
You are a truly pathetic person. You can’t answer questions when challenged, you are a science-denying, truth avoiding fool & you have all the grace and poise of a bowl of tapioca.
You make Nancy Kelly look intelligent
You’re a traitor to women & probably one of the most unpleasant people I know of in politics
That last from Sharron Davies.
And this:
Rosie Duffield was one of the few female Labour politicians with the guts to stand up for vulnerable women and girls, while self-satisfied numbskulls like you fought to give away their rights and spaces.
TL;DR Keep her name out of your mouth. https://t.co/wGh6wSGCkM— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 28, 2024
Mick Hartley 
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