No means no

Caroline Nokes meets a feminist

Today’s moment of Zen. While questioning MP Kemi Badenoch, Caroline Nokes tries to get away with using obfuscating language to insinuate bigotry and weaken safeguarding. She does not come out of it well.

“How are you defining trans?” is the question we have all been longing to ask of Vichy feminists like Nokes and her answer does not disappoint. She splutters “I don't think that's a fair question” but Badenoch, with icy politeness, forces her to explain herself.

Nokes: And I'm frantically trying to remember what it wasn't Minister Quince said on this subject yesterday. I think about trans pupils in single-sex dorms. Do you share his unease?

Badenoch: I haven't seen his comments yet.

Nokes: Okay, well, Minister Quince said that he will be uneasy if his children were in dormitories with trans pupils. Would you share that unease?

Badenoch: How are you defining trans?

Nokes: I don't think that's a fair question was when it was the quote put to Minister Quince?

Badenoch: I haven't seen his comments. But if you can tell me how you're defining trans I might be able to give you an answer.

Nokes: Okay, so if there was a child that self-identified as transgender in a dormitory with your children, would that give you any cause for concern?

Badenoch: Are you saying if a biological male child was in a dormitory with biological females, but said he was a girl, would I be comfortable with that?

Nokes: Yeah.

Badenoch: No.