08-23-2017, 08:58 AM (This post was last modified: 08-23-2017, 08:59 AM by BIAD.)
Quote:Labour MP says 'merit' in women-only train carriages.
'Women-only train carriages could combat the rise in sexual offences on public transport, a Labour MP has said. Shadow fire minister Chris Williamson said it would be "worth consulting" on the policy after such crimes doubled in the past five years.
However, Labour colleagues have criticised the move as "normalising attacks". Party leader Jeremy Corbyn first suggested the policy during his leadership election campaign in 2015.
Mr Williamson, MP for Derby North, tweeted an article containing figures from the British Transport Police, showing 1,448 sexual offences on trains had been reported in 2016/17, compared with 650 incidents in 2012/13.
He then told PoliticsHome that women-only carriages - which have been tested in countries including Japan, Brazil and Mexico - should be consulted on as they could create a "safe space". "It was pooh-poohed [when Mr Corbyn suggested it], but these statistics seem to indicate there is some merit in examining that," he said.
"Complemented with having more guards on trains, it would be a way of combating these attacks, which have seen a very worrying increase in the past few years."
Mr Williamson added: "I'm not saying it has to happen, but it may create a safe space. It would be a matter of personal choice whether someone wanted to make use of it."
'Make all carriages safe' The idea for women-only carriages was dropped by Mr Corbyn two years ago after fellow members of his party criticised it, including senior Labour MPs Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. And Mr Williamson's comments have again been attacked by colleagues.
Walthamstow Labour MP Stella Creasy tweeted: "Can we make all carriages safe for all passengers rather than restricting where we can go? "[It] doesn't keep women safe to restrict their movements - it normalises attacks. We need to be clear they [the attackers] are problem, not women's seating plans."
Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said the policy was an "absolutely terrible idea". She tweeted: "It is essentially giving up on trying to prosecute assaults. Also men should be incredibly annoyed by [the] suggestion they can't control themselves. "Sexual violence isn't about urges, it's about power.
If you take your feminist cues from Saudi Arabia, you've gone wrong.".
The Women's Equality Party said it had not changed its opinion since the Labour leader first proposed women-only trains in 2015. The party's co-founder, Catherine Mayer, tweeted that it was "not a good idea", as the party "vigorously pointed out" when it was first suggested...'
Apart from this not being 'true' news, it's another indication of what happens when you let the dweebs you used
to ignore in your schoolroom, get into positions of power.
Eh... what about having busses that have white men sitting at the back and everyone else sitting at the front...?
It's just an idea.
[The Labour Party used to be a political movement that represented the working-class and it's debated
that this party is now more in line with the US Democratic Party.]
08-23-2017, 04:20 PM (This post was last modified: 08-23-2017, 04:20 PM by BIAD.)
Yep... and staying with the train subject...
Memorial held for 60,000 exhumed corpses dug up as part of HS2.
Quote:'A memorial service was held today for the 60,000 people buried near London Euston railway station whose bodies will be exhumed as part of the HS2 high speed rail project.
Residents in Camden, north London unsuccessfully campaigned to save the site at St James' Gardens, which was used as a burial ground from 1790 to 1853.
HS2 Ltd will excavate sections of the ground to enable it to plan the removal of the remains prior to their subsequent re-interment elsewhere. Campaigners have strongly opposed the action, along with the cutting down of more than 500 trees in the borough to make way for the £55.7 billion railway.
Dorothea Hackman, a local church warden who helped to organise the private memorial service, said 40 people are being allowed to gather at the now closed St James' Gardens to pay respect to the people buried there.
"It's quite outrageous they are going to dig up our dead," she said. "They shouldn't be disturbed by spurious activities like this.
"And just think of the detrimental effect removing the benefit of the trees and green space will have on the area in terms of air quality...'
Oh my, Mr.Gore will not be happy!
Quote:'..."There has not been destruction on this scale since the Sixties. Government has run roughshod over democracy."
Local resident Marian Kamlish, 92, said: "In times of austerity, this vanity project is an insult to those in the NHS, in education, in the fire services and the police force, all suffering cuts while this rich man's railway sucks up our money."
Several notable people are buried at St James' Gardens, including Lord George Gordon, associated with the 1779 Gordon riots; Captain Matthew Flinders, the first person to circumnavigate and name Australia; and Bill Richmond, a pioneering black boxer.
An HS2 spokesman said: "Though the former burial ground at St James' Gardens has not been in use for more than 100 years, we will ensure that we treat the site with dignity, respect and care. "As such, we will continue to work closely with the local community, the Archbishops' Council, the local parish, Historic England and other organisations as we proceed with the next phase of the project."
He added that the work at Euston will triple the number of seats out of the station at peak hours and create a "gateway to the capital and the nation" that the local community and travelling public can "rightly call their own".
In February, Parliament granted powers to build Phase 1 of the line, which is due to open in December 2026. This will see trains travel at high speed between Euston and Birmingham before running on from Birmingham on the existing West Coast Main Line.
Preparatory work has begun and major construction projects are due to launch in 2018/19.
Services are expected to operate on Phase 2a from the West Midlands to Crewe in 2027, with Phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester, and Birmingham to the East Midlands and Leeds, due to open in 2033...'
