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On the way to Oxford Circus on the tube I sat down in a carriage to find myself sitting opposite Stella Creasy MP. She's a high profile member of our government, but was travelling alone as far as I could tell.
I didn't expect her to know who I was, but she moved over to talk to me, saying she had to ask me a favour. I thought she might want me to stand for leader of the party, as I understand there may have been some issues with Damprag. She was hoping I might help her publicise an
International Women's Day event in Walthamstow on Sunday. So not only does she know who I am, she knows of my work.
And I am very keen to point out that most men are victims of the patriarchy that many of them unquestionably support. It should be clear by now that the patriarchy benefits a few individuals at the top, who are shitting on the rest of us regardless of our gender. Equality for women means equality for us all, so none of this what about men? crap. We're on the same side.
And yes, even if you don't like a day for women, there is a day for men too. Though I forget the date.
We had a long chat, though due to my old ears and the extreme noise of the tube train I missed quite a lot of what she said. She was talking about damprag Keir (my words not her) a bit, but much as I would love to betray the confidence of what she said, I didn't hear some of it. I asked if she could bring in Proportional representation in return for me publicising the (non-political) event.
She favours AV1. I suppose that has the advantage of keeping the idea of local MPs and of being able to vote for your actual first choice and to keep your last choice out. I'd like to see a parliament, like everywhere else in Europe, that reflects the actual overall popularity of each party (even if that means a party I don't like having a quarter of the seats - it certainly isn't right that you can have a quarter of the votes and a huge majority). I suppose you do need to take into account the more regional parties. It was time to change this whole thing long ago. I don't see it happening too soon. And the next election could be our last democratic one, so maybe it's not worth the effort.
Like most non-mental politicians Stella is clearly a decent person, doing their best to try and make a difference and it was a nice quirk of fate that we ended up meeting randomly just three days before a cause that we're both invested in.
Anyway, the event looks like fun. If you like the idea of a more level playing field or just some fitness classes, it looks like a worthy thing to be supporting.
Three fun podcasts this afternoon with Zakia Sewell, Alex Horne and Bilal Zafar, which should all be winging their way to you soon. I ruled myself out of taking over from Greg Davies if he ever hangs up his Taskmaster crown. Alex looked disappointed, but it's a poisoned chalice.
