In 2018, Penny said that “trans men are men, trans women are women” – a controversial phrase for the Conservative party base. Attacks on the one who could take BoJo’s place
She is the woman to sink. Surprisingly,
Penny Mordaunt is the favorite in the race for the succession to Boris Johnson
: 49, Deputy Minister for Commerce, former Defense Minister for a short time under Theresa May, is almost unknown to the general public. Despite that, she has messed up the cards in the race to become prime minister with her direct and captivating personality: and for this reason what she called “dark operations” started to block its ascent.
The main controversy focuses on the rights of transgender people. In 2018, Penny said in Parliament that “trans men are men, trans women are women” – a controversial phrase that is anathema to the Conservative party base, whose favors must be won in order to hope to settle in Downing Street.
In recent days, Mordaunt has tried to back down: “A woman like me doesn’t have a pea,” she said, quoting an untranslatable pun by Margaret Thatcher. A statement that may seem obvious to most, but not to trans rights advocates, according to which even those who have a penis can be a woman, if they identify themselves as such. “I am biologically a woman – continued Penny -. Some people born male and who have gone through a gender recognition process are also legally female. This does NOT mean that they are biological women, like me ».
A U-turn that only stirred things up, because Penny showed up accused of ambiguityIn fact, a document has emerged that suggests that when she was Undersecretary for Equality, she had supported controversial legislation – later abandoned – that would have authorized gender self-identification regardless of medical opinion. And Mordaunt also objected to the introduction of the words “woman” and “mother” when referring to pregnant women.
In short, there is enough to make Sarah Vine, a very popular commentator of the Daily Mail – conservative tabloid that led the cannonade against Penny – that “if Penny Mordaunt does not fight for women’s rights, she will never get my vote.”
It’s all a controversy that may surprise you, but not in Britain, where the “Culture war” around the trans issue is one of the most divisive and has seen, for example, a writer like JK Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, condemned to ostracism by the keepers of politically correct for supporting the reality of biological sex. On the other hand, the right uses the controversy as a club to point out to the public mockery those who – like Mordaunt – are sensitive to the reasons of the trans.
And it’s a shame, because Penny certainly has what it takes to prove herself a winning choice by conservatives. Daughter of a paratrooper, herself a Navy reservist, she boasts a curriculum that is anything but conventional: as a young girl she worked as an assistant to a magician to help her family in difficulty after the death of her mother, while a few years ago she participated in a reality TV, «Splash», about diving from the trampoline. And once, for a bet with her comrades, she gave a surreal speech in Parliament on the welfare of poultry for the sole purpose of pronouncing the word as many times as possible “cock»(Which in English stands for rooster, but vulgarly also for c …). In short, a woman of spirit capable of reviving the fortunes of the conservatives after the roller coaster of Boris Johnson: but that she risks being shot for too much progress.
July 17, 2022 (change July 17, 2022 | 20:39)
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