Mick Hartley

From Seattle to Blackpool. On a similar theme – that belief in the biological reality of two sexes is a far-right ideology – here we are at the Fire Brigades Union annual conference.

Delegates attending the annual conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Blackpool this week will be asked to vote on an emergency resolution claiming that a legal campaign launched by women’s rights activists – and which resulted in the supreme court ruling that women and men are defined by biological sex for the purposes of equality law – was driven by ‘far-right ideologies’.

The debate on the controversial resolution comes just days after the union’s general secretary, Steve Wright, and assistant general secretary, Ben Selby, released a contentious statement arguing that the ruling placed the court on the wrong side of history. That statement – which showed no sign of having been signed off by the ruling executive council – resulted in a significant backlash on social media, with many accusing the union of adopting an extreme position that did not reflect the views of mainstream members and was rooted in emotion rather than reality.

The emergency resolution, which has been submitted by the union’s LGBT committee, is quite plainly a disgrace, and stands as a slur against all those – including many female firefighters past and present – who have made a principled defence of their sex-based rights. Many of these campaigners have spent their lives fighting against discrimination and the far-right. It is therefore appalling to suggest that they are motivated by ‘far-right ideologies’….

If the resolution is passed, it would mean that a conference comprised overwhelmingly of men had decided that the rights of trans-identifying fellow males were more important than those of women. What a terrible picture that would paint.  

Is there a trade union not in thrall to gender ideology? The constant drumbeat that trans people are the most persecuted people on earth just ticks all the boxes for these left ideologue dinosaurs. And the fact that women are the ones who suffer is surely a bonus for these men (though sadly they're not all men), who in reality have zero interest in women's rights, and haven't got where they are today by thinking for themselves.