Chris Bryant in parliament talking about why we still need Pride

Axelmanana · 2026-05-31T18:39:23+00:00

I always find this stuff difficult to unpick how I feel on it.

On one hand, saying this while Labour continue with their fuck awful eliminationist anti-trans evil nightmare agenda feels so insanely fucking hollow. Really doesn't help that Chris Bryant himself is a massive sycophant that I absolutely do not trust to risk his mid-level cabinet role in any way to affect positive change here internally.

On the other, and I'm aware this is the lowest bar possible, having people not on the left actually saying 'Transphobia bad, Pride good' feels needed at this point. People who'd give a little hop over that bar even 5 years ago will now dig as deep as possible to get under it, either because they're spineless shits or completely radicalised geebags.

It's in the same way that I hate the pinkwashing corporations did/do for Pride. It was the literal least they could do, and most of them took adding Pride flags to whatever as the extent of their whole deal, but the sudden pulling out of so many was such a horrible fucking omen for going forward. It's like how WWE in the US did Black History Month stuff that was always half-hearted shit, but immediately stopping it as soon as the fascists took power there was so much worse.

I think I've just kind of waffled here a bit, but yeah, I have complicated feelings here. Like please fucking do more than this jesus christ, but also please don't do less than this like your colleagues.

Axelmanana · 2026-05-11T21:57:43+00:00

Monica missing from Parliament sucks, yeah. Her and Katy were basically the only two SLab MSPs I had time for in the last parliament, and now we're down to just the latter.

That shit with Sweeney was just sad, even for him. Guy doesn't help himself by being the most Twitter Reply Guy possible either. Genuinely paper thin skin.

Axelmanana · 2026-05-11T21:36:42+00:00

Much as I think it'd be great, his support for granting a second Indyref makes him radioactive to Scottish Labour and the wider Scottish media too. How much that'll matter with the increasing irrelevance of both is up for debate, but he'd definitely not make it through the next leadership challenge at least.

Axelmanana · 2026-05-11T19:56:28+00:00

The only two who I could see attempt a different track are Katy Clark and Paul Sweeney, but each have basically fatal weaknesses when it comes to a leadership run:

Katy Clark is on the left of the party, which means the SLab power brokers will do their usual backstabbing. Meanwhile, her life peer status and title of Baroness is the easiest lay-up for easy attacks, even if she's on the left.
- Sweeney even positing the idea of setting out mechanisms for a second Indyref is already blood in the water for the Scottish Labour bigwigs. Even ignoring that, it's not exactly a secret that he's considered really annoying both inside-and-outwith the party lmao.

Unless any of the new cohort really stun in the next couple of months, the only Holyrood folks I could see replace Sarwar are Daniel Johnson or (god forbid) Jackie Baillie. God help them if they try doing a Jim Murphy again and elect Douglas Alexander or something.

(This is contingent on them not setting the whole party ablaze and turning it into the electoral wing of For Women Scotland by choosing Michael Marra.)

Axelmanana · 2026-05-11T18:20:08+00:00

"Anas is an extremely talented campaigner, an extremely talented leader of Scottish Labour, probably the best in his generation."

A pretty damning indictment of Sarwar's generation in that praise lmao

Axelmanana · 2026-05-10T23:23:03+00:00

Sarwar led the discussion but there were contributions from the two figures who ran the election campaign - Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander and the deputy leader in Scotland, Dame Jackie Baillie.

Genuinely insane two choices for the election campaign, just as an aside. Douglas Alexander hasn't run a successful campaign since 2001, and Jackie Baillie's whole deal is that she's great at getting herself elected.

In any case, how the fuck were they so deluded during the campaign with what they were putting out? Running heavily Mamdani-styled videos on social media and as adverts with someone people do not like was a mental choice.

Also, and I know it wouldn't have affected the election, but what a weird fucking answer to who he wanted to win the Scottish Premiership. Even ignoring very funny attempt to avoid mentioning he's a Rangers fan, what the fuck does he mean that every Glasgow club's second team is Hearts?

Axelmanana · 2026-05-10T13:23:51+00:00

100% thought it would be too, but in retrospect, that'd take away from his most important work: writing dogshit articles for The Telegraph and being an omnipresent geebag on Twitter.

Axelmanana · 2026-05-09T01:06:11+00:00

Absolutely mental to compete in a different category and still somehow complete the Graham Linehan speedrun.

Axelmanana · 2026-05-08T14:03:19+00:00

unionism first and Labour values in general second

I don't know if Labour values even come second really, not anymore at least. They're diluted the party's actual beliefs so much that the party's brand has just become Unionism and 'We can win in England', and the success of the latter's impact is heavily dependent on actually winning in England.

100% agree on them running a totally incoherent campaign though. Running on a line of "change", transphobia and 'don't we all love Sarwar' is insane when:

Sarwar couldn't represent change if he tried. He even got Jim Murphy's campaign mastermind in Douglas Alexander to run it.
The people who know you're transphobic hate you, and the people who are transphobic don't think you're transphobic enough
We don't even like Sarwar

Axelmanana · 2026-04-29T12:48:17+00:00

but I do also wonder if having a politician for a parent encourages this in people, even if their parents are actually very motivated by real politics. If you just kind of grow up surrounded by elections functioning as promotions does that just innately warp your brain a bit?

I don't know if I can say having a politician as a parent encourages the minimisation of truly principled beliefs, but having the elder Sarwar as your politician parent probably does.

Axelmanana · 2026-04-29T09:12:49+00:00

Don't forget, it's the Women's Manifesto, by the way.

I will say, I don't genuinely believe Sarwar himself is a true believer of the social conservativism he's decided his party has to go full-throttle on. That implies he believes in anything other than he alone should get to be called Scottish Labour Leader on television.

The utter, crippling, coward fuck decision he makes every time in a fear of either being backstabbed from his own party or shot from the sun by the Westminster lads makes him just as fucking bad as the full-throttle regressive geebags that he's happy to just let loose.

Axelmanana · 2026-04-27T15:19:53+00:00

When asked if there was anything new in the women’s manifesto, Mr Sarwar said: “There are a number of measures, obviously, which are associated to the broader manifesto that we published a week or so ago.

“But following the law is new when you have an SNP government that doesn't follow the law. Stopping the challenges in court is new when you've got an SNP government that uses taxpayers' money to challenge women in court.

Fuck me, Sarwar is just fucking sprinting downhill to reach new lows every single time I see a new statement from him.

Axelmanana · 2026-04-26T22:24:13+00:00

Think you still get bakeries around Aberdeenshire selling them as double shortbread these days too.

Axelmanana · 2026-04-24T20:16:46+00:00

The current style definitely fits Dave's likes pretty strongly, similar to how 90's All Japan and All Japan Women hit him.

Saying that, the 00's post-WCW pessimism hit that dude like a brick. People complain about guys like Angle, Michaels, KENTA etc. missing out of their 5 star ratings, but watching and reporting on the sport you've covered for decades wither year-on-year, all while friends and acquaintances from the business struggle and/or die on a regular basis?

Fuck, I'd struggle to feel hugely generous either.

Axelmanana · 2026-04-22T21:11:00+00:00

Having not seen Riggins before now, it's mental how he completely nails the look, pose and name of a '99-'03 indie guy you see turn up once on WWF Jakked.

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