Latest news with #JKRowling
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
From national treasure to pompous old fool, Stephen Fry's journey of smuggery is now complete: JAN MOIR
Tread on a worm and it will turn. And Stephen Fry has turned on his former friend JK Rowling, piously branding her a 'lost cause' and accusing her of being 'radicalised' with 'strange' views. Hark at him. He sounds like an Iranian cleric trying to wrestle an impudent girl into a burka, not someone who exults in his laughable reputation as a champion of free speech.
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Stephen Fry accuses ‘lost cause' J.K. Rowling of being ‘radicalised'
The British actor, broadcaster and writer has criticised the Harry Potter author for her outspoken views on transgender rights. During a recent appearance on The Show People podcast, Fry, who narrated the audiobooks for all seven Harry Potter novels, declared that he disagrees "profoundly" with Rowling's views. "She has been radicalised, I fear - perhaps by TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists), but also by the vitriol that is thrown at her.' 'It is unhelpful and only hardens her. I'm afraid she seems to be a lost cause for us."
The National
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
JK Rowling called The National 'anti-woman' – here's my response
She made this claim because we ran an article, and have run many articles previously, describing groups like Sex Matters as "anti-trans". I would like to take the opportunity to defend this newspaper against Rowling's frankly ridiculous description, and explain why "anti-trans" is indeed suitable language for these activists. What did JK Rowling say and what was the context? On Wednesday, our reporter Laura Pollock published a story headlined "Sex Matters considers new legal action against Scottish Government". In the social copy for the article, we stated: "An anti-trans campaign group is threatening further legal action against the Scottish Government, saying ministers are failing to implement the recent Supreme Court judgment on biological sex in equalities law." On Wednesday night, Rowling tweeted: "For Women Scotland is a feminist campaigning group. You appear to be an anti-woman newspaper." It is important to note that we weren't referring to For Women Scotland, but the group Sex Matters, which suggests Rowling didn't actually read the story before trying to smear our publication. Sex Matters and "anti-trans" First of all, let's take on the argument that describing Sex Matters as "anti-trans" is unfair, pejorative language. Rowling says it is simply a "feminist campaigning group". Is that the case? Sex Matters is an organisation which spends most of its time trying to keep trans women out of all women's spaces. Its recent campaigning includes attacking Westminster Council for displaying Pride flags during Pride Month, and arguing that schools should not teach children that people can transition. In its advice for parents on sex and gender in schools, it also states clearly: "Schools should not celebrate festivals such as Transgender Day of Remembrance." It is very difficult to find examples of Sex Matters campaigning on issues which do not relate to gender identity or matters related to the so-called trans "debate". To describe Sex Matters as simply a "feminist campaigning group" would be misleading, and fail to take into account its primary function. The National – an "anti-woman newspaper"? Myself and the reporters on staff at The National would have once been horrified to learn that JK Rowling had described us as "anti-woman". Today, it reads simply as another Twitter insult dispensed without any grounding in reality. So, here are the facts. The National is led by a woman, with a female assistant editor. On staff, we have more women working as reporters than men. An equal number of men and women write columns for us. We are part of the Pass the Mic programme, mentoring a number of women of colour in Scotland every year and helping them break into the media. We have campaigned on issues like buffer zones, pushing the Scottish Government to bring in legislation to protect women from abuse. For the 2024 International Women's Day, an all-women team produced the newspaper. Everything from the front page to the sports section was written and edited by women. It was the first time this had been done in the Scottish media in my own lifetime. Some of the team in the office for the International Women's Day edition in 2024 (Image: Colin Mearns) That edition looked at a range of issues affecting women in Scotland and around the world. Those challenges included women in Gaza being forced to have C-sections without anaesthetic, thanks to Israel's systematic destruction of the health service. This is an extremely urgent feminist campaigning issue which I have not heard Rowling or her friends at Sex Matters raise concerns over. Rowling has chosen to respond to language she did not like (due to its perceived sympathy towards trans people) by launching an intellectually lazy attack on a newspaper, primarily staffed by women, with a strong track record on reporting on feminist issues. Ultimately, I question the feminist credentials of those who brand the women working at The National "handmaidens" or accuse us of internalised misogyny because the coverage doesn't align neatly with their specific views. It is also not for JK Rowling to determine what all women think or feel. Nobody, no matter how wealthy or influential, can speak for all of us. Thankfully, arguments like Rowling's will not convince many people who are not already deep down the anti-trans rabbit hole. But her attempts to control our language are not welcome and should be called out by those who claim to value free speech. At The National we deal in truth, and will not be cowed by a billionaire trying to control media output to fit her own worldview.
Telegraph
17 hours ago
- Telegraph
Gender-critical lawyer banned from vets denies abusing staff
A gender-critical lawyer has denied accusations of harassing staff at a veterinary practice from which she was banned. Allison Bailey, a retired criminal defence barrister, is suing Palmerston Veterinary Group's surgery in Walthamstow, east London, after she was 'expelled' from the practice for allegedly showing 'rude' behaviour towards staff. But Ms Bailey denies the allegation, claiming the real reason she was banned in January 2023 was because of her gender-critical beliefs. The barrister was previously involved in a high-profile dispute with her chambers and Stonewall, the LGBT rights group, over claims that she was discriminated against as she believes that being female is an 'immutable biological fact'. During her campaign, JK Rowling praised her as 'a heroine to me and innumerable other feminists'. Ms Bailey says her gender-critical views were opposed by Dr Liz Munro, a former staff member at the veterinary practice. Now the surgery is fighting Ms Bailey's claim, saying the reason she was told not to return was because of its 'zero tolerance policy' on abusive behaviour towards staff. While Ms Bailey insists she had a positive relationship with the practice, which treated her two dogs Poppy and Jonty for 13 years, it is claimed the client shouted at a practitioner when she was told that one of her pets was overweight. The court heard two recordings of phone calls between Ms Bailey and vet staff during which there was no obvious argument or conflict. In the witness box, the claimant refuted the allegations that she had been abusive towards members of staff. Ms Bailey also denied claims by the practice that one of its vets, Neil Hampson, had warned a receptionist that she could be 'very intimidating and quite scary'. She rejected suggestions of 'an incident where you lost your temper and shouted at him for saying that your dog was overweight'. 'Absolutely not,' she told the judge. 'Neither of my dogs could be described as overweight. I've never shouted or screamed at anyone in [the] veterinary practice.' She claimed that the vets had been extremely supportive in the run-up to her dog Poppy being put down in 2020, after which they even sent her a condolence card. Gus Baker, representing the veterinary surgery, told the judge: 'In this case, the claimant alleges that she was deregistered as a patient from the defendant's veterinary practice... because of her gender-critical beliefs. This is denied. 'It is surprising the allegation has ever been made in circumstances in which there is no documentary evidence to support the assertion the claimant makes.' Akua Reindorf KC, Ms Bailey's barrister, criticised the veterinary practice for failing to call key witnesses to give evidence, adding that no other clients had been expelled from the practice under the same circumstances. Ms Bailey's lawyers said there were 'a handful of times' where the claimant felt the practice's services were not up to standard, but these issues were then 'resolved to her satisfaction'. In a previous hearing, it was revealed that Ms Bailey was banned following an incident in January 2023 when she went to the practice to order worming and flea treatment for Jonty. Ms Bailey is alleged to have become 'very angry' when the medication she wanted wasn't available, asking the receptionist 'what she was going to do about it'. Ms Bailey was deregistered as a client on January 28, which was followed by a letter asking her to 'seek the services of another veterinary practice'.
Spectator
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Spectator
JK Rowling blasts the National as ‘anti-women'
Scotland's self-identifying 'newspaper' is at it again – and this time it has provoked the wrath of renowned writer JK Rowling. The National has chosen to dunk, yet again, on women's rights organisation Sex Matters, dubbing it an 'anti-trans campaign group' which is 'threatening' legal action after it raised concerns about how the Scottish government is – or, more to the point, is not – implementing the recent Supreme Court judgment that backed the biological definition of a woman. But feminist-in-chief Rowling has had enough – and was quick to slam the Nat-obsessed tabloid as 'anti-woman'. Ouch. Taking to Twitter, Rowling defended Sex Matters – which intervened in the For Women Scotland gender case – after remarking scathingly: 'For Women Scotland is a feminist campaigning group. You appear to be an anti-woman newspaper.' And she's not the only one left unimpressed by the pro-indy paper's choice of language. For Women Scotland have waded into the conversation, pondering under Rowling's post: I do wonder if the head of Newsquest is aware that this smear – which lawyers suggested, only last night, amounts to defamation – is routine in the National. Oo er. The separatist bulletin is certainly no stranger to controversy. It fell foul of the Scottish press pack after one of its reporters first wrongly reported that Alba party members had verbally abused First Minister John Swinney inside the cathedral where Alex Salmond's funeral was taking place – before secondly shirking responsibility by claiming that of the journalists there, 'we had all mistaken inside for outside'. Cue a rather miffed response from the Beeb's Scotland editor, who indignantly wrote back that: 'It is not true to say 'we had ALL mistaken inside for outside'. At no point did I hear any jeering inside nor did I hear anyone suggest there was any.' It just goes from bad to worse, eh? And Mr S would remind readers that the secessionist journal managed to rather successfully annoy even its own columnists after it printed an Anglo-bashing splash last year before of the Euros final between England and Spain. Ahead of the match, the newspaper decided to depict a rather large red-faced, bare-chested, tattooed England fan as a football being launched into the air by Spanish midfielder Rodri. 'Time for revenge!' the cover screamed, 'Our message to Spain: Save us from an England win (or we'll never hear the end of it!)'. It prompted one of its own columnists, ex-SNP MP Joanna Cherry, to tweet: 'No. I really don't like this at all' – while SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn slammed the design for its 'xenophobia'. The National's editor eventually rowed back – but it was too little too late… At the time of writing, the piece remains online with its language unchanged. Will the National be forced to U-turn once again, with the help of FWS's little legal reminder? Stay tuned…
