Mick Hartley

If it's not Scotland, it's Wales. From the Telegraph:

Schools are allowing children to change gender without telling parents under Welsh Labour, The Telegraph can reveal.

Parents have raised the alarm about the “shocking” approach being taken to children who question their gender in schools in Wales, saying it’s taking place behind their backs.

The Welsh Government has promised to publish draft guidance for schools on how to respond to gender-questioning children in the spring, months after the first guidance of its kind was published in England that told schools to presume that a child cannot change gender.

But Merched Cymru, which describes itself as a grassroots group of ordinary women from across Wales, warned that children’s safety was being put at risk by an absence of guidance for schools on trans pupils.

All 68 schools in Wales that answered freedom of information requests submitted by the group said they would facilitate the gender transition of a pupil.

Only 28 per cent of the schools stated clearly that they would inform parents.

Some 38 per cent said they would not inform parents automatically, while a further 29 per cent said they would only inform parents with a child’s permission….

The report by Merched Cymru found that 76 per cent of schools instruct or encourage pupils to recognise their classmates’ preferred pronouns.

Some 70 per cent of schools offer a unisex option for toilets or have all unisex toilets.

More than one in five, or 22 per cent, of schools allow children to use toilets according to their gender identity.

The report also found that more than half of schools allow children to take part in sport according to the gender they identify by.

Where schools have had training on gender issues, the most commonly cited groups providing advice included LGBT charities Stonewall Cymru or Proud Trust.

Stonewall Cymru. Who would have guessed. 

The worry is that when Labour takes power here in England they'll be introducing the same Stonewall-inspired policies.

Jeremy Miles, the Labour education minister, has previously said he believes that “trans women are women, trans men are men”, while Vaughan Gething, the new Welsh leader, has vowed to make Wales “the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe”. 

Jack Delano, December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. In the roundhouse at a Chicago and North Western railyard."

[Photo: Shorpy/Jack Delano for the Office of War Information]

Oh the excitement! A Banksy mural (now confirmed) in Finsbury Park. Of course I rushed down there.

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured at the scene, commmented, "What wonderful artwork, proving there is hope for our natural world everywhere." Which is a strange thing to say. 

A local resident said "It feels like a personal message to us residents, we just feel so proud". Which is also a strange thing to say.

I suppose it's meant as some kind of comment on, as it were, the crude urbanisation of nature. Councils brutalising lovely trees, perhaps. That shade of green is the same as used in standard Islington Council signs.

But then:

The council believes the cherry tree in the foreground of the artwork is around 40-50 years old and is in declining health, with decay and fungi damage.

It says it has been maintaining and pruning the tree for some time – both for safety, and to help prolong its lifespan – and will continue working to keep the tree alive.

So the council's doing its best. The tree wasn't brutalised; it just needed cutting back. There are plenty of lovely street trees round Islington.

Oh well. 

Further to yesterday's post on BBC Verify and biased reporting from Gaza, here's David Collier's latest – BBC Verify – a hostile land of make believe – part one.

On that story of the Gaza hospital staff supposedly abused by the IDF:

On Tuesday 12 March, BBC News / BBC Verify published an exclusive story that accused Israel of abusing Gazan medical staff. Because demonisation of Israel acts as a fix to a nation experiencing an addiction to antisemitism, the item was widely shared. In the end even the British Foreign Minister David Cameron felt the need to respond, calling the report ‘very disturbing’. The BBC played its part by holding the item on the front page far longer than usual.

But when you break the BBC exclusive down, cracks emerge in the story. In fact the entire piece relies on human input from just six separate sources. Three of them were Arabic speaking journalists – the other three were witnesses from the hospital.

All six, from their social media history, appear to be activists celebrating Hamas and sharing material that glorifies terrorism.

Six sources – and all of them are problematic. Between the six sources listed above they could contrive anything – and BBC Verify would swallow it whole. Which is exactly how the BBC ends up acting as a Hamas propaganda outlet.

Yes, it's Liz Truss. On the other hand, in this case she happens to be right. The Telegraph view – The Government should take up Liz Truss’s important Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill:

In the House of Commons last Friday Labour MPs spent hours talking about their pets in a deliberate filibuster designed to stop another Bill being debated.

The thwarted measure, championed by Liz Truss, the former prime minister, was aimed at reforming transgender laws by banning puberty blockers, protecting single sex spaces and preventing teachers helping a child change gender unbeknown to its parents.

Most people would probably agree with the purport of this measure but it was introduced as a private member’s Bill, which means it can only be debated on a Friday and is competing against other backbench legislation. MPs enter a ballot and their Bills are debated in numerical order. Usually just the top half dozen get onto the Statute Book if they are lucky and are relatively uncontroversial.

Ms Truss came 18th in the ballot, and third on the list last Friday. Her Bill was highly unlikely to become law even if it was not blocked by Labour MPs reciting the names of their pets and regaling the House with stories of keeping ferrets.

Another way in which private members’ Bills can proceed is if the Government gets behind them. Ms Truss fulminated against Labour for their tactics.

Why are ministers not taking up this Bill? The House of Commons is virtually redundant at the moment, with little legislation to consider. Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary, joined the condemnation of Labour. Yet the Opposition is not in office whereas the Tories are. The Cabinet has the power to take these proposals forward before the next election. Rishi Sunak is desperately searching for a measure to show voters he is on their side. Well, here it is.

Another woman fighting back:

An artist was allegedly told she needed to give 24 hours’ notice to attend her own exhibition and reported to the police, after saying she believed it was harmful for children to try to change sex.

Victoria Culf, 43, was setting up her independently funded exhibition at Watford Museum when a borough council employee began talking to her about transgender issues.

Culf claimed she politely revealed that, because of her beliefs and her experience with children and young people, she believed transitioning them was harmful.

She added to the employee that the NHS Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock Centre, which has been criticised for its treatment of children with gender dysphoria, should be shut down. It is closing at the end of this month.

Culf said that after the conversation she received a call from the council telling her of “harassment” allegations and saying she could not enter the exhibition without 24 hours’ notice.

She was allegedly told police were investigating her for a “hate crime” and that she needed to prepare a statement, but Hertfordshire police later judged no crime had been committed….

Culf, who is now taking legal action against the council, said yesterday: “I was afraid that the police were going to turn up on my doorstep at any moment and arrest me in front of my children.

“It was just complete madness to me. The conversation I had was calm and considered.

“During my work and life experience I have experienced children and young people regretting all sorts of decisions and continually changing their minds as they grow and develop.

“We are now living in a culture where just expressing opposition to transgender ideology, even politely, can lead to you being reported to the police.”…

Culf is seeking damages, a written apology, and for restrictions on her going to the museum to be lifted. She will also ask that a retraction of the allegations made be given to all parties, and that the council pledge that nothing like this will happen again.

No date has been set for a hearing.

Culf added: “I am aware that me speaking out could be ‘commercial suicide’, but I am not prepared to be silent on these issues and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Jack Delano still in Chicago, December 1942:

"Chicago, Illinois. Switching and classification freight yards. Looking out toward the icehouse from the freighthouse at a yard of the Chicago and North Western Railroad."

"Chicago, Illinois. Boiler makers inside the firebox of a locomotive on which they have been working in the roundhouse at a yard of the Chicago and North Western Railroad."
[Photos: Shorpy/Jack Delano for the Office of War Information]

Last week the BBC had a headline front page item – Gaza medics tell BBC that Israeli troops beat and humiliated them after hospital raid…..

I want to tell you a story.

Last week the BBC Verify team posted a demonising report that accused Israel of abusing Palestinian medics.

The BBC Verify story relied on six separate sources. I think you should meet the people @bbcnews rely on:

Thread ⬇️⬇️⬇️

— David Collier (@mishtal) March 17, 2024

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You can read more in the Mail.

BBC journalists behind a damning report which accused Israeli soldiers of beating and humiliating medics at a Gaza hospital have 'liked' videos celebrating Hamas terror attacks and anti-Israel posts online.

The story last week led to worldwide condemnation of Israel, and was called 'very disturbing' by Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron who called for 'answers'.

Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal concerns about the views of two BBC Arabic reporters, Soha Ibrahim and Marie-Jose Al Azzi, who were credited with working on the story.

The "news", basically, came from Palestinian activists. No independent verification.

It's the same old story – the Al-Ahli hospital bombing; the aid truck deaths. The BBC rushes to get out the Hamas news….and we learn the truth later.

It's not hard to see. "Zionist" is now just another word for Jew.

People are seeing this, right? Jews who support existence of Israel, the most normal thing in the world for both Jews and non-Jews to do since Israel exists and will exist, are being stopped from performing across America. Normal people can't just accept this. https://t.co/8Xl6MTiNvn

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) March 15, 2024

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If like me you'd never heard of Matisyahu, here's his Wiki entry.

On the subject of Hull (yesterday), I can't miss out this classic Bert Hardy 1951 photo of Hull fishwives, "Street Talk":

[Photo: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/ Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

There's a Bert Hardy exhibition on now at the Photographers' Gallery.