Simon Thorpe
@spaceboii.bsky.social
Lecturer. Researcher of prefigurative constitutionality and municipalism (https://westminster.academia.edu/SimonThorpe). #FreePalestine. Join yourparty.uk so we can reignite the principle of hope.
Glad to be off service 🫡
August 16, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Glad to be off service 🫡
There is, indeed, a lot of nuance to the situation.
Honestly, when you set it out like this, you have a point. Corbyn's position on trans rights is clear from past statements (hence the urge to defend him). There is no official party policy (this is just true), but you're right he & Sultana have been making their own views known, to set the tone.
August 15, 2025 at 8:46 PM
There is, indeed, a lot of nuance to the situation.
Fair
Honestly, when you set it out like this, you have a point. Corbyn's position on trans rights is clear from past statements (hence the urge to defend him). There is no official party policy (this is just true), but you're right he & Sultana have been making their own views known, to set the tone.
August 15, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Fair
Hello very polite Smazak. This thread has helped me to consider the situation more thoroughly. Thank you for your constructive contribution.
Honestly, when you set it out like this, you have a point. Corbyn's position on trans rights is clear from past statements (hence the urge to defend him). There is no official party policy (this is just true), but you're right he & Sultana have been making their own views known, to set the tone.
August 15, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Hello very polite Smazak. This thread has helped me to consider the situation more thoroughly. Thank you for your constructive contribution.
It's possible he's avoiding the topic to avoid a conflict with some of the independent MPs. If that's the case, that sucks and I disagree with that approach. I still want to be part of the process of trying to create a trans-inclusive socialist party.
Thank you for the food for thought.
Thank you for the food for thought.
August 15, 2025 at 8:40 PM
It's possible he's avoiding the topic to avoid a conflict with some of the independent MPs. If that's the case, that sucks and I disagree with that approach. I still want to be part of the process of trying to create a trans-inclusive socialist party.
Thank you for the food for thought.
Thank you for the food for thought.
Honestly, when you set it out like this, you have a point. Corbyn's position on trans rights is clear from past statements (hence the urge to defend him). There is no official party policy (this is just true), but you're right he & Sultana have been making their own views known, to set the tone.
August 15, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Honestly, when you set it out like this, you have a point. Corbyn's position on trans rights is clear from past statements (hence the urge to defend him). There is no official party policy (this is just true), but you're right he & Sultana have been making their own views known, to set the tone.
But Greens are also an important part of that strategy, so if you feel more at home with them, then I look forward to collaborating with you in that way instead
August 15, 2025 at 2:46 PM
But Greens are also an important part of that strategy, so if you feel more at home with them, then I look forward to collaborating with you in that way instead
I mean, I joined the Greens some time ago, so again I'm right with you, up to the point that #yourparty was announced, which I think has the potential to be a powerful force alongside the Greens in the fight for PR (the most important initial goal) and everything else we want.
August 15, 2025 at 2:46 PM
I mean, I joined the Greens some time ago, so again I'm right with you, up to the point that #yourparty was announced, which I think has the potential to be a powerful force alongside the Greens in the fight for PR (the most important initial goal) and everything else we want.
Terrible take. Damsons are the shit. I am officially founding the pro-Damson faction of the unnamed party.
August 15, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Terrible take. Damsons are the shit. I am officially founding the pro-Damson faction of the unnamed party.
I hope they consider defecting now there's a viable socialist alternative, but it doesn't automatically make them evil if they have a different strategic view with which we disagree
August 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I hope they consider defecting now there's a viable socialist alternative, but it doesn't automatically make them evil if they have a different strategic view with which we disagree
I agree with your assessment of the Labour Party, but I think there's room for reasonable disagreement here. McDonnell, Lewis, Burgon, Long-Bailey, etc, there are plenty of good people still trying to counter Starmer's bs from the inside.
August 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I agree with your assessment of the Labour Party, but I think there's room for reasonable disagreement here. McDonnell, Lewis, Burgon, Long-Bailey, etc, there are plenty of good people still trying to counter Starmer's bs from the inside.
There is no such thing as official policy for a party that hasn't yet been founded. Join and help make sure that trans rights are front and centre when we do actually become a party. It's going to be a democratic collective, not just a celebrity vehicle for Corbyn and Sultana.
August 15, 2025 at 1:41 PM
There is no such thing as official policy for a party that hasn't yet been founded. Join and help make sure that trans rights are front and centre when we do actually become a party. It's going to be a democratic collective, not just a celebrity vehicle for Corbyn and Sultana.
@zarahsultana.bsky.social was pretty unequivocal about Labour's failings long before announcing #yourparty
August 15, 2025 at 1:38 PM
@zarahsultana.bsky.social was pretty unequivocal about Labour's failings long before announcing #yourparty
I was actually quite surprised and disappointed, always saw him as unusually thoughtful, critical, reflective, e.g. impressed by his interest in citizen assemblies. But evidently being thoughtful *for a centrist* doesn't mean a whole lot in the end.
August 15, 2025 at 1:33 PM
I was actually quite surprised and disappointed, always saw him as unusually thoughtful, critical, reflective, e.g. impressed by his interest in citizen assemblies. But evidently being thoughtful *for a centrist* doesn't mean a whole lot in the end.
This is fundamentally why I know I will always be on the left: we are actually serious about understanding the world, and acting on that understanding to change it for the better. It's hard to think of another political tradition still popular today of which I could say the same.
August 14, 2025 at 8:32 AM
This is fundamentally why I know I will always be on the left: we are actually serious about understanding the world, and acting on that understanding to change it for the better. It's hard to think of another political tradition still popular today of which I could say the same.
A further point of unseriousness: note the anti-intellectualism of @rory-stewart.bsky.social, mocking Andrew Murray for daring to have a theoretical understanding of the possible roles of a new left political party. #yourpartyuk #yourparty
August 14, 2025 at 8:32 AM
A further point of unseriousness: note the anti-intellectualism of @rory-stewart.bsky.social, mocking Andrew Murray for daring to have a theoretical understanding of the possible roles of a new left political party. #yourpartyuk #yourparty
Add to that factual accusation the histrionic claim that Corbyn wants to 'renationalise everything that ever existed'. So much for 'rational debate'. This is centrism: cynical, disingenuous, unserious, contorted around its ideological commitment to the false equivalence between left and right.
August 14, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Add to that factual accusation the histrionic claim that Corbyn wants to 'renationalise everything that ever existed'. So much for 'rational debate'. This is centrism: cynical, disingenuous, unserious, contorted around its ideological commitment to the false equivalence between left and right.
Yes but we are usually governed by an absolute majority in Parliament. That's what I think is so unlikely this time, that it changes everything.
August 13, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Yes but we are usually governed by an absolute majority in Parliament. That's what I think is so unlikely this time, that it changes everything.
It will require some shifts of attitude for sure. My tentative prediction is not that such a shift is guaranteed to occur among all parties, but that electoral success will be determined by who does and who does not make that shift.
August 13, 2025 at 3:51 PM
It will require some shifts of attitude for sure. My tentative prediction is not that such a shift is guaranteed to occur among all parties, but that electoral success will be determined by who does and who does not make that shift.
'Dangerous idiot' describes the majority of today's Parliamentary Labour Party terrifyingly well. Just heard an anonymous Labour MP cited on the Guardian podcast as saying they felt 'tricked' by the government into voting to proscribe Palestine Action. It's morons all the way down.
August 13, 2025 at 3:50 PM
'Dangerous idiot' describes the majority of today's Parliamentary Labour Party terrifyingly well. Just heard an anonymous Labour MP cited on the Guardian podcast as saying they felt 'tricked' by the government into voting to proscribe Palestine Action. It's morons all the way down.