It’s not been a great new year for the Greens. From the north of Britain to the south, two examples in the past week haven’t exactly shown the party at its best. First, the Scottish Sun revealed that Lorna Slater, the co-leader north of the border, told aides she didn’t want to work every day of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow – despite billing it ‘the last chance to save the world.’ Slater, who has now been dubbed ‘Lorna Slacker,’ told government officials she didn’t want them to arrange more than ‘two things in one day’, before being snapped on the first day of COP drinking in a pub at 5 p.m.
And now, 430 miles south of Edinburgh, another incident emerges down on the south coast. For the Brighton Greens – last seen being embroiled in yet another refuse strike – have chosen a new high-profile council candidate, experienced in ways of campaigning. Step forward, Tom Pashby, who has just been selected to contest the Regency ward, one of the Greens’ safest seats, held by the party since 2007.
Pashby’s selection has caused some disquiet in the Brighton and Hove party,
Pashby was a supporter of the campaign against professor Kathleen Stock at the University of Sussex, which saw masked protesters, stickers and posters being put up on campus. Stock subsequently quit her post there in October 2021, citing a ‘witch-hunt’ against her, with Pashby being frequently quoted as a student representative in articles critical of Stock’s role at the university.
Pashby’s selection has caused some disquiet in the Brighton and Hove party, with local sites quoting discontented Green members. Ali Ceesay, said:
‘I’m really concerned how any due process could result in selecting a candidate who has been vocal in supporting a campaign of targeted harassment against Kathleen Stock, a lesbian feminist in our city. It is baffling as to how Tom has been selected.’
Another Green member Steve Moses added:
‘I would personally campaign against Tom Pashby because they did cross a line – they campaigned for someone who was taking part in this debate in a respectful and academic, well researched way to lose her livelihood and reject academic freedom.’
Talk about a great response on the doorstep. Pashby, a ‘trailblazing non-binary activist’ in the words of a fawning profile by Pink News, describes himself as a Masters student at Brighton and a journalist at IEMA, who seeks to stop ‘institutions sliding back into even more entrenched transphobia and queerphobia.’ For their part, the local Greens are standing by Pashby, claiming: ‘We welcome the selection of a candidate with lived experience as a trans/non-binary person’ and that the campaign against Kathleen Stock merely saw Pashby using ‘their experience as a campaigner to comment on the events and connect their fellow trans and non-binary students with journalists to help them get their perspectives heard.’
Does Kathleen Stock see it that way?
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