Great conversation! Daniel provided an excellent and accurate overview of the history and current situation of the Green Party of England and Wales and offered insightful responses to speculation about the future. Mustafa Selek is absolutely correct in wondering about the lack of intellectual scrutiny within the party about the origins of gender identity ideology and Judith Butler's role in its ultimately disastrous effect on feminism. I strongly recommend Jane Clare Jones's writing on the subject. She would be a brilliant person for you to interview.
Full disclosure, I was forced to resign from the party after being hounded for years and suspended for 19+ months for asking to discuss the interests of women and transgender people and where conflicts arise.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and personal experience, it takes courage to speak openly about such difficult circumstances, especially given what you've been through with the party.
Your point about the lack of intellectual scrutiny within progressive movements regarding these philosophical questions is precisely what concerns us. These aren't merely abstract theoretical debates; they have real consequences for real people, as your own experience demonstrates so starkly. Being suspended for months simply for wanting to discuss potential conflicts of interest between different groups is deeply troubling and speaks to the very authoritarian drift Daniel described in our conversation.
Jane Clare Jones is an excellent suggestion, I'm familiar with some of her work on Butler and the philosophical underpinnings of gender identity ideology, and she would indeed make a brilliant guest. I'll reach out to her shortly.
In fact, I'd also be very interested in speaking with you directly if you're willing. Whilst the philosophical dimensions are crucial, understanding the practical reality of how these ideological shifts play out, the disciplinary processes, the silencing mechanisms, the human cost, would add another vital layer to this discussion. Your experience of being hounded for years before ultimately being forced to resign represents exactly the kind of story that needs to be heard and understood.
If you're interested in sharing more of your experience, of course. These conversations matter, particularly when they come from those who've paid such a price for simply asking questions.
Thanks for joining us, Daniel! It was really helpful to get your insider's perspective on these developments. And thanks for offering to answer listeners' questions - that's very generous of you.
Looking forward to having you back on the podcast sometime to continue these discussions.
Thanks! The motion attempting to put the climate and ecological emergency at the centre of campaigning was very clear and concise by Green Party Conference standards. In my view, this vote was symbolically equivalent to Labour ditching state ownership of industry under Blair. The difference is that Green politicians aren't whipped, and do whatever they want regardless of Conference-agreed policy!
Yes, the party is indeed deeply divided, but not as much between "ecology" versus "social justice" as between the 7 Special Interest Groups ( formely known as Liberation groups ) which are supposed to represent all oppressed minorities. The divide so far has been mostly between biological women and the transgender ( inclusive! ) Feminist Greens, not to be confused with Green Feminists, nor with Green Party Women which is still the official GPEW women's body. The divide between the Jewish Greens and the pro Palestinian lobby burst in the open in a dramatic walk out of the chair of the Jewish Greens at the 2024 Manchester Conference. Jewish Greens are not zionists; they have always been on the left and for a 2 states solution. The next split which has already surfaced at the 2025 Conference is beween the Global Greens ( a new SIG ) and Greens of Colour. They both take the view that all whites are racist, so they split on an amendment about self identification re: shades of blackness - you could hot make it up if you tried ! We are also likely to see a fall out between the Muslim Greens and the LGBTIQA+ . The newly elected deputy leader and pro Hamas Mothin Ali and his Muslim Grees friends are not too keen on "Trans women are women, transmen are men etc.." I wonder where Zack will be when the party is faced with court cases not just on sex discrimination, but also on race , or even religion ? A definition of Islamophobia is almost inevitably going to cause much concerns for women and gay members. Oh dear... Identity Politics is indeed destroying not just " the left ", but the ecological movement too.
Great conversation! Daniel provided an excellent and accurate overview of the history and current situation of the Green Party of England and Wales and offered insightful responses to speculation about the future. Mustafa Selek is absolutely correct in wondering about the lack of intellectual scrutiny within the party about the origins of gender identity ideology and Judith Butler's role in its ultimately disastrous effect on feminism. I strongly recommend Jane Clare Jones's writing on the subject. She would be a brilliant person for you to interview.
Full disclosure, I was forced to resign from the party after being hounded for years and suspended for 19+ months for asking to discuss the interests of women and transgender people and where conflicts arise.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and personal experience, it takes courage to speak openly about such difficult circumstances, especially given what you've been through with the party.
Your point about the lack of intellectual scrutiny within progressive movements regarding these philosophical questions is precisely what concerns us. These aren't merely abstract theoretical debates; they have real consequences for real people, as your own experience demonstrates so starkly. Being suspended for months simply for wanting to discuss potential conflicts of interest between different groups is deeply troubling and speaks to the very authoritarian drift Daniel described in our conversation.
Jane Clare Jones is an excellent suggestion, I'm familiar with some of her work on Butler and the philosophical underpinnings of gender identity ideology, and she would indeed make a brilliant guest. I'll reach out to her shortly.
In fact, I'd also be very interested in speaking with you directly if you're willing. Whilst the philosophical dimensions are crucial, understanding the practical reality of how these ideological shifts play out, the disciplinary processes, the silencing mechanisms, the human cost, would add another vital layer to this discussion. Your experience of being hounded for years before ultimately being forced to resign represents exactly the kind of story that needs to be heard and understood.
If you're interested in sharing more of your experience, of course. These conversations matter, particularly when they come from those who've paid such a price for simply asking questions.
—M
This was an interesting dive into the party where it has come from and where it might be going, and the tensions within the structure. Thanks Daniel.
You're welcome, Emma!
Thanks for inviting me to take part in the Metapolitics podcast! If listeners have any questions, I would be happy to answer them.
Thanks for joining us, Daniel! It was really helpful to get your insider's perspective on these developments. And thanks for offering to answer listeners' questions - that's very generous of you.
Looking forward to having you back on the podcast sometime to continue these discussions.
—M
I've been told the Green motion that didn't pass was wooly and better ones were passed. 🤷
Interested in your view !
Podcast brilliant. Very clear and so well explained.
Thanks! The motion attempting to put the climate and ecological emergency at the centre of campaigning was very clear and concise by Green Party Conference standards. In my view, this vote was symbolically equivalent to Labour ditching state ownership of industry under Blair. The difference is that Green politicians aren't whipped, and do whatever they want regardless of Conference-agreed policy!
Interesting…thank you. Person dissing it perhaps had other reasons for doing so, other than it's content.
Please do get in touch and let's talk. nicolehaydock@yahoo.com
Yes, the party is indeed deeply divided, but not as much between "ecology" versus "social justice" as between the 7 Special Interest Groups ( formely known as Liberation groups ) which are supposed to represent all oppressed minorities. The divide so far has been mostly between biological women and the transgender ( inclusive! ) Feminist Greens, not to be confused with Green Feminists, nor with Green Party Women which is still the official GPEW women's body. The divide between the Jewish Greens and the pro Palestinian lobby burst in the open in a dramatic walk out of the chair of the Jewish Greens at the 2024 Manchester Conference. Jewish Greens are not zionists; they have always been on the left and for a 2 states solution. The next split which has already surfaced at the 2025 Conference is beween the Global Greens ( a new SIG ) and Greens of Colour. They both take the view that all whites are racist, so they split on an amendment about self identification re: shades of blackness - you could hot make it up if you tried ! We are also likely to see a fall out between the Muslim Greens and the LGBTIQA+ . The newly elected deputy leader and pro Hamas Mothin Ali and his Muslim Grees friends are not too keen on "Trans women are women, transmen are men etc.." I wonder where Zack will be when the party is faced with court cases not just on sex discrimination, but also on race , or even religion ? A definition of Islamophobia is almost inevitably going to cause much concerns for women and gay members. Oh dear... Identity Politics is indeed destroying not just " the left ", but the ecological movement too.