Instant Opinion: Labour is the party with a woman problem

The Week’s daily round-up highlights the five best opinion pieces from across the British and international media, with excerpts from each.

1. Clare Foges in The Times

on misogyny

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Labour is the party with a woman problem

“While the old left blithely ignored women, the hard left berates them and the new left belittles them. Of course, right-wing politics has had its own share of sexist pigs, but where the right seems to fare better is in treating women not as mere representatives of a minority but as individuals with their own talents, strengths and weaknesses. This is perhaps why the Conservatives have scored two female leaders to Labour’s nil. So if they are to style themselves as champions of equality, and if they are to gleefully accuse the Conservatives of having a woman problem, Corbyn’s Labour should really get their own house in order first.”

2. John Rentoul in The Independent

on political realignment

Johnson securing a Brexit deal would be a disaster for Swinson

“If a Brexit deal would be good for Johnson, mixed for Corbyn and bad for Farage, it would be disastrous for Jo Swinson. She has bet the mortgage on stopping Brexit, which has lifted the Liberal Democrats in the opinion polls and prompted the defection to her ranks of seven MPs. But if we leave the EU what then does the party stand for? Many thoughtful members were worried about this at the party conference in Bournemouth last month. ‘We would have to become the party of Rejoin,’ they said in private, fretting that this would appeal to a tiny proportion of the voters, and that the party didn’t have distinctive policies on anything else.”

3. Peter Hitchen in the Daily Mail

on Extinction Rebellion

One day it will be impossible to criticise the fanatics of Extinction Rebellion. Until then, I’ll tell the truth about those irrational zealots

“Thanks to the political and media class’s dim acceptance of shouted propaganda, and their rejection of reason, we are already damaging ourselves. Wind generation only functions thanks to huge hidden subsidies, paid for by the poor, and is vulnerable to power cuts unless it is backed up by fossil fuel or nuclear generation. We are like a thirsty man refusing to drink from a tap because of a water shortage, while his local water company leaves hundreds of leaks unrepaired, allowing thousands of gallons to drain away each hour. This is a futile, self-harming gesture. And these demonstrators, ignorant and engorged with self-righteous rage, demand more futility.”

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4. Stephen Bush in the New Statesman

on voter fraud

Are Boris Johnson’s VoterID proposals an attempt to disenfranchise Labour voters?

“There are three inevitabilities in life: death, taxes, and the Conservatives announcing plans to force people to provide ID in order to vote. The nominal cause is concerns about electoral fraud, though the party’s opponents fear that the plans are a thin pretext to make it more difficult for supporters of Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats to vote.”

5. David Leonhardt in The New York Times

on the lessons from history

The Clinton Legacy: Impeachment Hurts the President

“Trump deserves to be impeached on the merits, and, if he is, it will probably further sully him in the eyes of swing voters, much as it did to Clinton. The big question now is how well will Democrats handle the process. They should move quickly to hold more public hearings, rather than the private sessions they held last week, so Americans can better understand how Trump has perverted American foreign policy and national security for his own benefit. Ultimately, impeachment may well hurt some Democrats from Trump-friendly districts, much as it hurt several Republicans 20 years ago. But it is also very likely to damage Trump — as his own sullen reaction suggests that he realizes. That’s a trade-off worth making.”