Keir Starmer rejects calls for minister for men

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1. (Article)

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   Sir Keir Starmer has rejected calls to introduce a minister for men and boys to help tackle “toxic” masculinity.
   The Prime Minister said introducing a new ministerial role was not “the answer” to the problem.

   But he said he was “worried” about the issue and said that society “can’t shrug our shoulders” as he promised a government response.

   The issue has received increased scrutiny in recent weeks due to the popularity of the Netflix drama Adolescence, which explores the case of a schoolboy killer, misogyny online and bullying on social media.

   Asked on Monday morning if he believed it was time to introduce a minister for men, Sir Keir told BBC Radio 5 Live: “No, I don’t think that is the answer. I think it is a time for listening carefully to what Gareth Southgate was saying and responding to it.

   “And certainly that is what I want to do. I have been in touch with Gareth Southgate, I want to have that further discussion with him, we have already had a bit of a discussion about this.

   “But I do think it is important that we pick this challenge up and see it for what it is.”

   Sir Keir revealed he had spoken to Sir Gareth after the former England football manager delivered a lecture in which he warned “manipulative and toxic influencers” were tricking young men.

   Sir Gareth said many young men end up “searching for direction” and fill the void with a “new kind of role model who does not have their best interest at heart”.

   Asked if he believed society was sleepwalking into a “crisis for masculinity”, the Prime Minister said: “I am worried about this… I have been in touch with Gareth, I know Gareth, I thought his lecture, what he was saying, was really powerful, will have resonated with a lot of parents, and I do think this is something that we have to take seriously, we have to address, we can’t shrug our shoulders at it.”

   The Government does have a minister for women and equalities – a position currently held by Bridget Phillipson – but there is no comparable role specifically for men.

   A recent report published by the Higher Education Policy Institute said the Government could appoint a “minister for men and boys” specifically tasked with addressing the educational underachievement of male pupils.

   The report said a “boy-positive” learning environment needed to be developed in schools as it warned there was a risk of “under-educated men veering towards the political extremes” if male underachievement was not tackled.

   Sir Keir said last week that he had been watching the programme with his two teenage children.

2. Can’t be the only one who read that headline as “rejects calls for Mister Men”

3. Yes we really need to involve famous developmental phycologist Gareth Southgate, if he’s not available maybe Barry from East enders is free.

4. I mean, what is a minister for men going to do that other departments can’t do already? The issue referenced in the article, the educational underachievement of boys, can be easily addressed by the Department of Education. Setting up a new ministry seems like virtue signalling more than anything else.

5. He shouldnt be assigning a minister for men to counter toxic masculinity

   He should be assigning one to help reverse the massive suicide rate in men, the lower education attainment, the vastly higher victims of violent crime numbers, the significantly lower life expectancy, the massively worse cancer and medical outcomes and the fact that men can be conscripted

   or woooooo womens month!

6. Men are in a worse position now than women were when Minister for Women was created.

7. Government initiative I’d like to see is working towards keeping families together. While having a man in the house isn’t always great if he’s not a good example, boys that grow up without *any* type of male role model will inevitably find one somewhere else – and it’s unfortunately not always going to be a good one.

   I think people underestimate the impact that not having a father figure around has on young boys.

8. Government: Why do we need to look after men?

   * right wing dog shit incels, Andrew Taints, Jordan Petersons, men not making it to higher education… *

   Government: How could this have possibly happened?

9. Minister for Equality would probably work better, and what it should always be about, instead of a specific gender.

10. Some of the comments here absolutely demonstrate part of the problem – as soon as anything is discussed about men’s issues, there’s always about 50% of the responses along the lines of “but what about the women though?”

    We should be able to logically discuss education for boys, men’s rights, the male mental health crisis, etc. without the conversation becoming a competition between which sex has it worse…

11. Why can’t we rebrand it minister for gender equality/equity (which is what feminism always aimed for)?

    That way there is an acknowledgement that these are two sides of the same coin. They could address both the ongoing problems women face in the workplace, especially at and after child bearing age, as well as the rapidly developing education and work crisis in young men. It may help the latter group feel less ignored. Not addressing both now will guarantee future gender equality issues and social tensions.

12. “We don’t need a minister for men, we have Gareth Southgate”

    Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction

13. Im not convinced there needs to be a minister for men.

    What we do need is better socio economic outcomes for younger people generally (instead of the hopelessness they feel currently), stronger role models and community spaces.

    The stuff that pushes young men to do violent things are a varying mixture of ostracisation, relative poverty, poor or lack of male role models……. then they go and find company in niche online groups which are toxified by bad actors, gangs, or terrorist organisations (or the armed services).

    People need to stop thinking that because they watched adolescence on Netflix, the answer to problems society poses to men is another sticking plaster, it needs actual societal changes in the interests of everyone, because those changes benefitted women, in much the same way equality for women benefits men.

14. Men!?!?! White working class men!?!? Ewww gross! I’ve read about those guys! They are all absolutely evil and disgusting.

    I stand by the prime minister. Long may he reign.

15. If there was ever conscription again it would remind the western world why men had slightly more rights than women

16. Ministers for some, sermons and scoldings for others.

    Equality.

17. Couldnt hurt to have a person in goverment trying to rail into dudes heads to get therapy and actually deal with what upsets them instead of bottling it up or doing substance abuse.

18. Actually a really bad thing without ‘Equality’ which in itself is a truthful argument but a different one.

    We are all wringing our hands about Male mental health, Male loneliness, Lack of Male role models, Andrew Tate et al influence on young men/ incel culture, and finally male health issues such as prostate cancer awareness, men with breast cancer etc. only just starting having sanitary bins in men’s toilets for example.

    A lot of problems that aren’t being addressed in a unified manner, one person to create policy and dot the I’s cross the T’s would be a really positive thing.

19. Men have issues that are getting worse and worse. Suicide being one of the most horrific.

    And, if we can help men out, it wont just be men that are befitting. you cannot argue that men are horrible then argue against ways to support them, more healthy men means less unhealthy men doing unhealthy things.

    But what about women. Yes both have issues. helping one helps the other.

    But what about misogyny. A lot of men may turn away from more hateful rhetoric if theyre able to receive help they need.

    no im not saying all sexists are so because men have a lack of care, but it can help.

20. I nominate Penn Jillette.

    As he is the best a man can get.

21. This is one of those ideas that sounds like an MRA bs thing, but really it could make a lot of sense. Just like a parliament just for England. By not having a Minister for Men, it leaves these issues to shit heads to exploit, and also implies that men are the default gender so everything is for us.

    There is a strong progressive argument for this idea.

22. Really simple solution, rename the Minister for Women and Equalities to Minister for Equalities.

    You don’t need the “Women” part, Equalities should include everyone including men

23. I don’t know what’s wrong with this mentally ill party.

24. How about minister for Human Rights/ The disabled/ NHS/ Unions etc..?

    Or a minister to investigate political corruption?

    How do so many politicians become multi millionaires?

25. Remember when they did a version of Women’s Hour for men? Hardly anybody listened to Men’s Hour and it was cancelled.

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