Latest news with #AnyQuestions
Spectator
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Watch: grooming gang victim criticises Lucy Powell
The row over Lucy Powell's outrageous comments are not going away anytime soon. It was on Any Questions last week that the Leader of the House of Commons suggested that discussing the subject of grooming gangs effectively amounted to a 'dog whistle.' She has now been forced to issue a grovelling apology in the House, having, er, conspicuously failed to do so in her original post on X. But among the victims of those disgusting gangs, there is anger and dismay at the attitudes of politicians like Powell. This morning one of them was interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg on her flagship BBC show. Steph, who was abused when she was 12, was asked on what it is like to hear the political conversation about grooming gangs. She replied: 'It makes me angry, especially the comment of the dog whistler and stuff like that. It's not very nice to us as victims.'
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
SARAH VINE: This is the difficult conversation we need to have about rape gangs and cultural attitudes if voters are EVER to trust liberal politicians again. I'll start...
Last week, Lucy Powell, Leader of the Commons and Labour MP for Manchester Central, apologised to the House for dismissing a question from fellow panellist Tim Montgomerie on the BBC 's Any Questions about whether she had watched a recent Channel 4 documentary about . In an extraordinary outburst, Ms Powell, right, snapped: 'Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Let's get that dog whistle out, shall we?'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Green Party is a sinister mob. Take it from me, a former deputy leader
After the resignation of Carla Denyer, the Green Party is facing a leadership contest for which the membership has had their opportunity for genuine debate about its policy platform and electoral priorities artificially restricted. No activist or spokesperson who dares to stand up for the rights and protections of women, girls and children – especially, in the context of a decade of trans rights overreach – will escape the wrath of the totalitarian mob within. I should know. In 2024, I won a landmark gender critical protected belief discrimination case against the Party, the first of its kind in politics, after I was unlawfully removed as front bench spokesperson for justice. But let's start with the positives. It's true the Green Party has made progress in recent years. When I served as deputy leader, we managed to get 1 million votes in the 2015 general election. In 2024, under today's leadership, we achieved nearly 2 million votes and quadrupled our number of MPs to four. Year on year, we've increased our councillor share, too. Yet these gains have been snail's pace compared to the seismic shifts in political landscape precipitated by the Farage machine. On Brexit, we lost the argument and the referendum. Devoid of either introspection or serious analysis, our then leaders resorted to writing off 52 per cent of the electorate as xenophobic or easily duped. Last week, Reform gained control of ten councils, dwarfing our own electoral achievements. Not content with marginalising 52 per cent of voters, Green politicians have sought to alienate another 51 per cent. That's the logical consequence of a political movement which resorts to identitarian flag-waving and is in thrall to queer theory luxury beliefs. In the days following the Supreme Court judgment, the Green Party leadership demonstrated utter contempt for the rights and protections of women and girls. On BBC's Any Questions, parliamentarian Siân Berry – who prides herself with having a science background – described sex in humans as 'not entirely binary'. On BBC Radio 4's Today, Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay refused to answer Nick Robinson's direct question, 'Are Transwomen Women?' four times. The view that trans women are women has been the policy of the Greens since 2016. It offers up a Stonewall campaign slogan as a literal truth, and conflates sex and gender identity. For his refusal to pronounce this holy dogma, officers of the Young Greens rewarded him with calls for his resignation. The trio of car-crash interviews was completed by Carla Denyer who, following an appearance on BBC Sunday with Laura Kuennsberg, went viral for all the wrong reasons. She claimed that 'non-trans lesbian women' would be prohibited by the ruling from allowing 'trans lesbians', i.e. men, into their spaces. There is no such thing as a male lesbian, and a space set up for same-sex attracted women is not for men. These rights for women are protected under the Equality Act. The trouble with Denyer's resignation is it leaves the door open for an even more fanatical successor. With Carla, perhaps especially when she was on the ropes in an interview, you could still tell what she was thinking. For good or ill, that transparency helped electors decide, while others in the party feel they can get away with avoiding tough interviews or concealing what they really think. Denyer's Deputy, Zack Polanski, who reportedly once set himself up as a hypnotherapist for breast enlargement, has recently launched his campaign to be Leader. I would challenge him on how a party can remain credible for telling the truth on climate science but continue to tell lies about what constitutes a biological woman. The Party is so negligent about equality law, they've retained gender self-identification as a criterion for eligibility to satisfy quotas for the leadership contest I've long advocated for speaking and engaging with electors and politicians with whom we may strongly disagree. I regard it as fundamental to democratic politics that we should seek to persuade those not already won over to our policy proposals. The opposite betrays a deeply cynical approach to human beings, in which we have nothing to learn, even from those whom we would presume to govern. Government without consent descends into totalitarianism. Not content to find themselves on the wrong side of a claim for unlawful discrimination against me, the Green Party is looking at a second lawsuit. I currently find myself excluded by the Green Party following a series of complaints all premised on my belief that sex is real. Greens who share my temperament have been kicked out of the Party. Currently in exile, we may be disqualified from standing for leadership, but we do retain our resolve for a better kind of politics. The Green Party only claims to do politics differently. By God, they do, but not in a good way. Shahrar Ali was Deputy Leader of the Green Party 2014-16 and a candidate for Leader in 2021 standing on a strongly gender critical platform. @ShahrarAli Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Rhyl Journal
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
Lucy Powell apologises to grooming gang victims over ‘dog whistle' remarks
The Commons Leader addressed victims and survivors as she told the House that she was 'very sorry' and the Government wants 'your truth to be heard wherever that truth leads'. Ms Powell's apology came after shadow Commons leader Jesse Norman said his counterpart had received 'universal condemnation for dismissing concerns' about grooming gangs as 'dog whistle politics' during an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions programme. When a recent Channel 4 documentary about five women's stories of being groomed and abused by gangs was raised by a fellow panellist, Ms Powell replied on the BBC programme: 'Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Let's get that dog whistle out, shall we?' Ms Powell, speaking in the Commons on Thursday, said: 'I am very sorry for those remarks, as I made clear over the weekend. I and every member of this Government want your truth to be heard wherever that truth leads. 'Your truly appalling experiences need to be acted on, for those responsible to be accountable and face the full force of the law and for justice to be served. 'I would never want to leave the impression that these very serious, profound and far-reaching issues, which I have campaigned on for many years, should be shied away from and not aired. Far from it. No stone will be left unturned. 'And what the victims want first and foremost is for action to be taken and for the many, many recommendations from the previous inquiries to be implemented in full, including mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse – something I have called for for nearly a decade. 'Shockingly these recommendations remained sitting on the shelf until we came into government last year. 'Baroness Louise Casey, who conducted the no holds barred inquiry into Rotherham, is carrying out an audit on the scale, nature and characteristics of grooming gangs. She will be reporting soon. This will include the questions of ethnicity, as well. 'Every police force in England and Wales has been asked to look again at historic grooming gang cases and they will be reopened where it is appropriate to get perpetrators behind bars. 'So I hope the House is left in no doubt of my commitment to these issues and my apology to those victims for any distress I have caused them.' Mr Norman earlier accused Ms Powell of having 'talked in the same way about grooming gangs' from the despatch box when 'she accused people of jumping on bandwagons on January 9 of this year' in business questions. He said: 'I hope we can agree now that this is an extremely serious national issue and that no-one, whether or not they hold public office, should be deflecting or denying its seriousness. 'I hope that in her response now the Leader of the House will put aside party politics, avoid criticising others and speak from the heart.' Mr Norman asked if Ms Powell had watched the Channel 4 documentary, adding: 'Does she agree that the dismissal of these entirely valid concerns has been one of the factors behind what even today remains a huge continuing national scandal. 'Will she now back the call of many victims for a comprehensive national inquiry into grooming gangs?'
Leader Live
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Leader Live
Lucy Powell apologises to grooming gang victims over ‘dog whistle' remarks
The Commons Leader addressed victims and survivors as she told the House that she was 'very sorry' and the Government wants 'your truth to be heard wherever that truth leads'. Ms Powell's apology came after shadow Commons leader Jesse Norman said his counterpart had received 'universal condemnation for dismissing concerns' about grooming gangs as 'dog whistle politics' during an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions programme. When a recent Channel 4 documentary about five women's stories of being groomed and abused by gangs was raised by a fellow panellist, Ms Powell replied on the BBC programme: 'Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Let's get that dog whistle out, shall we?' Ms Powell, speaking in the Commons on Thursday, said: 'I am very sorry for those remarks, as I made clear over the weekend. I and every member of this Government want your truth to be heard wherever that truth leads. 'Your truly appalling experiences need to be acted on, for those responsible to be accountable and face the full force of the law and for justice to be served. 'I would never want to leave the impression that these very serious, profound and far-reaching issues, which I have campaigned on for many years, should be shied away from and not aired. Far from it. No stone will be left unturned. 'And what the victims want first and foremost is for action to be taken and for the many, many recommendations from the previous inquiries to be implemented in full, including mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse – something I have called for for nearly a decade. 'Shockingly these recommendations remained sitting on the shelf until we came into government last year. 'Baroness Louise Casey, who conducted the no holds barred inquiry into Rotherham, is carrying out an audit on the scale, nature and characteristics of grooming gangs. She will be reporting soon. This will include the questions of ethnicity, as well. 'Every police force in England and Wales has been asked to look again at historic grooming gang cases and they will be reopened where it is appropriate to get perpetrators behind bars. 'So I hope the House is left in no doubt of my commitment to these issues and my apology to those victims for any distress I have caused them.' Mr Norman earlier accused Ms Powell of having 'talked in the same way about grooming gangs' from the despatch box when 'she accused people of jumping on bandwagons on January 9 of this year' in business questions. He said: 'I hope we can agree now that this is an extremely serious national issue and that no-one, whether or not they hold public office, should be deflecting or denying its seriousness. 'I hope that in her response now the Leader of the House will put aside party politics, avoid criticising others and speak from the heart.' Mr Norman asked if Ms Powell had watched the Channel 4 documentary, adding: 'Does she agree that the dismissal of these entirely valid concerns has been one of the factors behind what even today remains a huge continuing national scandal. 'Will she now back the call of many victims for a comprehensive national inquiry into grooming gangs?'
