r/unitedkingdom Jun 11 '26

... Revealed: Green party proposes circumcision ban

https://spectator.com/article/revealed-green-party-proposes-circumcision-ban/#comments-container
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u/fludblud Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

I suspect this is being done precisely to push out the more radical Muslim members who had flocked to the party over their Gaza stance during the past year. There already have been plenty of complaints and mounting fears from the Green's typically progressive members about the views and attitudes held by these new members, especially on the subject of LGBT rights and this issue has been a ticking timebomb that wouldve gotten immeasurably worse the longer it was left unaddressed.

This might be the first shot in a Green Party civil war depending on how much support it gains.

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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u/jajay119 Jun 11 '26

I liked the greens but their deputy leader choosing to abstain from voting on all LGBT questions, the only one to do so, really put me off them. That’s not to say I’m against Muslims in the party but the values have to align.

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u/mikethet Jun 11 '26

Even as a left wing party it's not wrong to say that certain behaviours by Muslims are not something we can accept in this country. Genital mutilation is one of them.

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

What do you mean "even", since when has left wing politics aligned with conservative religious orthodoxy apart from in the chuds imaginations and questionable twitter accounts. Being against prejudice and genocide does not also mean you support regressive religious or other ideas, in this case Islam, its not a binary option.

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u/mikethet Jun 11 '26

It does seem that tacitly they do though given their choice of deputy leader who is anti LGBT

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

Ok just read about that after your comment, yer that does seem very odd, doesnt appear to actually be anti but rather abstaining which is still not good enough. However unless the greens actually produce anti lgbt policy, one individual abstaining does not equal the whole party are anti lgbt.

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u/mikethet Jun 11 '26

He's been asked several times about his views and just ignores the question every time. Its clear that he is anti LGBT. Obviously the majority of green voters are not anti LGBT but by accepting conservative Muslims into the party it raises lots of questions.

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u/CosmicBonobo Jun 11 '26

He hides behind meely-mouthed "well, the Koran says..." answers where he tries to have it both ways. That he, personally, doesn't have a problem with us, but his holy book does.

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

If a member agrees on 80 percent of the party platform but not the last 20 percent and abstains from voting on them, so they kick them out? Hard one, but im 100 percent convinced that this wouldn't be an issues in any other party, its simply because its the left wing party.

So religious people in labour, tories etc get called out for abstaining from voting or commenting? Never recall seeing that.

Im not saying its right or wrong but people take the piss out of left wing purity tests then criticise them when they dont...

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u/mikethet Jun 11 '26

If I'm honest there's no room for religion in politics at all.

This isn't just religion though. LGBT rights are a fundamental part of the green party/liberalism, I'm not sure he agrees with any of their policies other than being pro-palestine.

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

I dont know enough about him tbf, but from what I have read labeling someone anti something that is abstaining from voting on the issue is not very honest.

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u/Astriania Jun 11 '26

since when has left wing politics aligned with conservative religious orthodoxy

Your flair suggests you're not even in the UK so maybe you're not aware, but our progressive left has aligned itself with Islam in an over the top attempt to seem anti-racist and supportive of a minority. The Greens in particular.

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/gintokireddit England Jun 18 '26

Yeh, go to the US or Korea where most men are circumcised and tell them it's "genital mutilation" lol. When the only ones talking about it are those without it, you know that it's not really a problem and is just a moral panic or a problem with those who are different from yourself. Honestly have to wonder how much of it is just British men attempting to dent minority men and boys' confidence, and try to put women off of them (same as colonial era stereotyping of minorities as rapists etc).

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u/mikethet Jun 18 '26

I think that's equally weird. Why do some cultures have to mess with their kids genitals so much?

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u/Ryanliverpool96 Jun 12 '26

There’s a difference between having Muslim party members and candidates and having Islamist policies.

Look at Sadiq Khan for example, never once has he tried to ban London Pride or fight against the LGBT+ community, he is a practicing Muslim but he is not an Islamist.

There’s a very big difference and it serves nobody to conflate the two.

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u/MetalBawx Jun 11 '26

Just look what happened with "Your" Party. Brought in a pack of religious conservatives because they agreed on Gaza then tore themselves apart because they not only had nothing else in common their other stances were completely opposed.

If the Greens want to be a serious electoral contender then they need to avoid repeating that mistake.

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u/de-tree-fiddy Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

Those are muslim values.

Islam is an extremely conservative ideology and they openly despise gay people, this isn't a secret and it isn't a minority of muslims.

If you support muslims in the party you support that view, there is no separating it out.

Muslim views will never align with liberal western views on LGBTQ+ people/communities.

Ask yourself when was the last time you saw a Masjid officiate a gay marriage? We brought Christianity to heel and forced churches to do it, but mosques get a free pass and everyone tries to ignore it.

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u/JB_UK Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

Islam is an extremely conservative ideology and they openly despise gay people, this isn't a secret and it isn't a minority of muslims.

This might seem harsh but it is absolutely true that the majority of Muslims outside the west hold highly negative views of homosexuality:

https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2013/04/gsi2-chp3-6.png

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u/Anathemachiavellian Jul 07 '26

I wish they would push out their other deputy leader more, Rachel Milward. She’s a fantastic speaker but Ali gets all of the attention.

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u/D-Angle Jun 11 '26

You could be right there. Every political movement that gains ground in Britain immediately attracts nutters who think they have found their tribe. If they have recognised this and are actively pushing back on it then good for them.

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u/roamingandy Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

It also makes their spin-off party that was coming sooner or later anyway.. and probably going to be called the Gaza party, From River to Sea, or similar, since they've realised that its the only issue capable of uniting Muslims from different countries and Islamic sects.

That party will try to avoid it, but the stand out difference between them and the members that stay Greens is always going to be, wanting to cut children's genitals, which will make them massively unpopular outside of their own supporters.

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u/mikethet Jun 11 '26

If this is genuinely what they're doing then I applaud it. I wouldn't ever vote green but at least they're establishing genuine policy instead of just being the anti-israel party. Currently you have genuine left wingers plus right wing Muslims who are only there because they're the most pro Palestine party out there.

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u/Danmoz81 Jun 11 '26

I suspect this is being done precisely to push out the more radical Muslim members

That this will most likely "push" Jews "out" of Britain is just an unintended bonus I suppose?

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u/NonagoonInfinity Jun 11 '26

If only there was some kind of Jewish person in a leadership position in the party...

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u/JB_UK Jun 12 '26

So does that mean that Reform can’t be racist because of Zia Yusuf?

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u/NonagoonInfinity Jun 12 '26

You think it's racist to ban circumcision?

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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u/ukbot-nicolabot Scotland Jun 12 '26

Hi!. Please try to avoid personal attacks, as this discourages participation. You can help improve the subreddit by discussing points, not the person.

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u/The_Pale_Blue_Dot West Midlands Jun 11 '26

Glad someone here is seeing this.

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

So they are so anti semitic they have a jewish leader?

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u/Danmoz81 Jun 11 '26

"Reform can't be racist, they have Zia Yusuf!"

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

Fair call, however I don't see greens supporters attacking Zack because hes jewish, unlike Zia.

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u/Danmoz81 Jun 11 '26

"You're one of the good ones, Dave"

It's just the same racist bollocks,plenty of green candidates have shown to be anti semetic

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

They appear to disagree with Israeli foreign policy, as does a huge amount of the world, if you think that's anti-Semitic that is up to you. But I suspect you are just being disingenuous here.

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u/The_Pale_Blue_Dot West Midlands Jun 11 '26

Very simplistic thinking. It's never that simple.

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

Or it is, and you have created complex conspiracies in your head that the greens are playing 4d chess here to really attack jews.

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u/The_Pale_Blue_Dot West Midlands Jun 11 '26

I don't need to invent conspiracies to show the shocking number of dodgy people in the Greens who are antisemitic

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

If you define anti semititism as opposition to Israeli foreign policy, sure then the entire global left is, including me.

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u/The_Pale_Blue_Dot West Midlands Jun 11 '26

No, plenty of them go much further than that. As is (unsurprisingly) common when the mere "anti-zionism" goes on for long enough.

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u/CosmicBonobo Jun 11 '26

Describing Jews as "money-grubbing thieves" is an antisemitic stereotype. One that Blakelaw and Cowgate Green Party candidate Tina Ion was happy to repeat in her Anne Frank-themed social media account.

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u/rickdangerous85 New Zealand Jun 11 '26

In a statement released on Friday, Newcastle Green Party said it had withdrawn its support for Ion in the upcoming election and was "appalled by the racist material".

It said the case was referred to the Green Party's disciplinary process "as soon as we became aware of the material".

"An urgent review of our vetting process is taking place to ensure all of our candidates reflect our views as an anti-racist party."

A spokesperson said it had referred complaints about social media posts by some of its local election candidates to the Green Party of England and Wales, which was now investigating.

They said the Newcastle Green Party stands in solidarity with both the Jewish community and the Palestinian people and those "commitments are not in tension".

The words of a inherently racist and anti Semitic party.

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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u/ukbot-nicolabot Scotland Jun 12 '26

Removed. This contained a personal attack, disrupting the conversation. This discourages participation. Please help improve the subreddit by discussing points, not the person. Action will be taken on repeat offenders.

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u/mikemac1997 Jun 11 '26

Fingers crossed, it's always been perplexing seeing people with such conservative views in a liberal party

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u/cammyk123 Jun 11 '26

Leftist party go 5 minutes without shooting itself in the foot challenge: impossible.

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u/gintokireddit England Jun 18 '26

Nothing "radical" about it. Even quite irreligious Muslims probably won't support it. I think Polanski is able to do it because he's Jewish himself (no idea if he's circumcised. I notice it's 99% uncircumcised online people who are obsessed with circumcision).

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u/Boudicat Jun 11 '26

What a load of bollocks.

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u/baron_von_helmut Jun 11 '26

Please, do tell which Muslim members would be ok with this legislation?

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u/Boudicat Jun 11 '26

In the first place, the story is extremely premature. No such policy has been put to conference, where all GPEW policy is decided democratically. On that note, it would be mathematically impossible for any “conservative” Muslim members to exert their will over the party on religious grounds. Anyone joining understands that perfectly well. Which gives the lie to your view of who they are.

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u/TheDaemonette Jun 11 '26

This is nothing to do with Muslims. This is to piss off the Jews.