Justice for Men and Boys
Justice for Men and Boys (and the Women Who Love Them) | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | J4MB |
Leader | Mike Buchanan |
Founded | 6 February 2013 |
Ideology | Pro-men's and boys' rights, anti-feminist |
House of Commons |
0 / 650 |
House of Lords |
0 / 724 |
European Parliament |
0 / 73 |
Local government |
0 / 21,259 |
Website | |
https://j4mb.org.uk |
Justice for Men and Boys (and the Women Who Love Them) (J4MB) is a British political party which identifies with the Men's rights movement and opposes feminism.
Foundation and philosophy
The party was founded in February 2013,[1] and is led by a retired businessman and former Conservative Party consultant, Mike Buchanan,[2] who left the party in 2009 after David Cameron announced his approval of all-women shortlists for selecting parliamentary candidates.[3][4] In 2013, he accused Cameron of being "relentlessly pro-female and anti-male" in his policies and comments.[4] Buchanan has said he established the party because "the state is anti-male"[5] and considers the male sex to be "pretty much subhuman".[2]
J4MB describes itself as "the only political party in the English-speaking world campaigning for the human rights of men and boys"[6][7] and as being anti-feminist. "Feminism is a hatred, and it should be a badge of shame", Buchanan has said. According to him: "It’s a very well documented feminist objective of 40 years to destroy the nuclear family", and feminism "is a deeply vile, corrupting ideology and the idea it's a benign movement about gender equality is dangerous nonsense".[2][5] The party issues awards for "lying feminist of the month" to female journalists,[2] "toxic feminist of the month" and "whiny feminist of the month". Its website includes a link to an article entitled "13 reasons women lie about being raped".[5][8]
2015 general election
In its manifesto for the 2015 general election, the party explored twenty areas in which the human rights of men and boys in the UK are being violated.[1] In this document, the party advocated compulsory paternity tests, cutting funds intended to encourage women to enter science, and cutting the abortion limit for women whose pregnancy threatens their mental health from 24 to 13 weeks.[7] Parents should be able to send their sons to schools with only male teachers because female teachers are assumed to favour girls in the awarding of marks.[9] They also believe men should be able to retire earlier than women, because males work harder and die younger.[6] The section on sexual abuse concentrates on female offenders, and the issue of rape and assaults annually committed against women in the UK is avoided.[10] The higher level of male suicide is blamed on the state for favouring women over men.[3]
The party stood for election for the first time at the 2015 general election, with two candidates in Nottinghamshire seats. Party leader Mike Buchanan stood in Ashfield against the Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Gloria De Piero. Buchanan came last with 153 votes out of 47,409 cast. Ray Barry stood in Broxtowe, against sitting Conservative MP Anna Soubry, and also came last with 63 votes out of 53,440 cast.[11]
If Labour had formed a government in 2015, Buchanan said its leading female politicians would have been given "free rein to roll out yet more radical feminist agendas, teaching schoolboys to be feminists, ie brainwashing them into becoming lifelong unquestioning slaves to women".[12]
Later activities
The party co-hosted the 2016 International Conference on Men's Issues (ICMI16) in London, between 8 and 10 July 2016 in association with A Voice for Men. Conservative member of parliament Philip Davies, a member of the Justice Select Committee, spoke to the conference and asserted that the criminal justice system favours women's over men's rights.[6][8][13] Davies was not paid for his appearance at the conference.[9]
Jenny Earle, director of Prison Reform Trust’s programme for reducing women’s imprisonment in response said, "The evidence is not that women are treated more leniently. In fact they are twice as likely as men to receive a custodial sentence for a first offence, and the main offence for which women are imprisoned is theft and shoplifting".[8]
Buchanan announced that he was not standing in the United Kingdom general election, 2017, although he had previously intended to be a candidate in Maidenhead against Theresa May, the Prime Minister.[14][15]
Electoral Commission and finance
The Electoral Commission report on expenditure by political parties in the UK General Election 2015 noted that, for political parties with financial returns of less than £250,000, Justice for Men and Boys was one of the top ten highest spending with a total expenditure of £11,423.[16]
Parliamentary elections
Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % |
---|---|---|---|
Ashfield | Mike Buchanan | 153 | 0.3[17] |
Broxtowe | Ray Barry | 63 | 0.1[18] |
References
- 1 2 Buchanan, Mike (28 December 2014). Justice for Men and Boys (and the Women who Love them): General Election Manifesto 2015 (pdf). Justice for Men and Boys. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 Ross, Jamie (4 January 2015). "An Anti-Feminist Party Is Standing In The General Election". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- 1 2 Nianias, Helen (14 January 2015). "'Feminists hate men': Meet Mike Buchanan, the leader of Britain's new Justice for Men and Boys Party". The Independent. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
- 1 2 Buchanan, Mike (6 March 2013). "Comment: Why Britain needs a pro-male party". Politics. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- 1 2 3 Fordy, Tom (15 January 2015). "An anti-feminist political party is depressing news for men and women". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- 1 2 3 "'Let them eat cake' backlash after MP's anti-feminist comments". BBC News. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
- 1 2 Rampen, Julia (15 August 2016). "Could YOU be the next whiny feminist of the month? Meet the Justice for Men and Boys party". New Statesman. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- 1 2 3 Grierson, Jamie (12 August 2016). "Pressure mounts on PM to respond to Philip Davies' 'feminist zealots' comments". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- 1 2 Hughes, Laura (12 August 2016). "Politically correct 'feminist zealots' want women to 'have their cake and eat it', claims Tory MP". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
- ↑ Smith, Lydia (16 January 2015). "Justice for Men and Boys: The anti-feminist party standing in the general election". International Business Times. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ↑ "Election 2015: HS2 divides Broxtowe candidates". BBC News. BBC News. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ↑ Bennett, Catherine (18 January 2015). "Justice for Men and Boys’ hatred of feminism eclipses its remit to help men". The Observer. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ↑ Fisher, Lucy (13 August 2016). "Feminists want to have their cake and eat it, says Tory MP". The Times. Retrieved 27 June 2017. (subscription required)
- ↑ Preston, James. "REACTION: Theresa May announces snap General Election". Maidenhead Advertiser. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ↑ Witherden, Grace (28 September 2016). "'Men's rights' campaigner announces bid to oust Theresa May from Maidenhead seat". Maidenhead Advertiser. Baylis Media Ltd. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ↑ "Electoral Commission releases UK Parliamentary General Election campaign expenditure returns of less than £250,000". electoralcommission.org.uk. Electoral Commission. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- See also: "Justice For Men & Boys, Statement Of Individual Payment (SP0197849)". electoralcommission.org.uk. Electoral Commission. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ↑ Election 2015 - Ashfield, BBC News. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ↑ Election 2015 - Broxtowe, BBC News. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
External links
- Justice for Men and Boys website
- This Morning" interview with Mike Buchanan (guest) and Caroline Criado-Perez (guest), ITV, 15 January 2015 (Link accessible in the UK.)