Mike Buchanan And Radical Feminist Beatrix - 'Bea' - Campbell

Mike Buchanan: Given the recent excruciatingly poor performances on live television of some of the most prominent younger feminists - which resulted in Special Snowflake and Caroline Criado-Perez (we really must give CC-P a nickname, ideas on a postcard, please) winning new 'Lying Feminist of the Month' awards - it may be that a new tactic is emerging, the feminist 'old guard' being wheeled out, although I had the pleasure of debating with Roz Hardie (another 'Lying Feminist of the Month' award winner) for 70 minutes on a leading Irish radio station last night. We hope to publish the piece in the next day or two, and tomorrow morning I'll be debating with another young radfem, who is that oddest of beings, a feminist 'comedienne'. Needless to say, she secures plenty of work from the BBC.


I was surprised to learn at the weekend that on a BBC radio programme on which I was scheduled to appear yesterday, I'd be debating with Beatrix - 'Bea' - Campbell, 67, an influential Marxist lesbian feminist for many years. Her first job in journalism was with the communist daily, 'The Morning Star'. Her Wikipedia profile is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_..., from which we see, 'Writing in The Guardian, she self-defined herself as a "republican with politics rooted in Marxism and feminism." '

So, did the BBC give me the opportunity to debate issues with Bea Campbell, an opportunity I should have enjoyed? No. Presumably at her request, I was interviewed first by the presenter (Andrew Peach), then taken off air, and she responded to his questions (from around 8:36 in this audio file). She went in for the predictable denial of evidence bases, diversions, and personal attacks. She claimed my two ex-wives don't support J4MB, which was surely idle speculation. To the best of my knowledge neither has ever said a word to the media about our marriages, what they think of J4MB etc. Why would they? How would their opinions of J4MB or myself have any relevance to what is being discussed here?

So Bea Campbell, a titan of modern British feminism, won't engage in debate with an anti-feminist on a BBC local radio station? How low the morale of feminists must have sunk, for that to be the case. It's all good. Bring on Harriet Harman or Germaine Greer or Janet Street-Porter or Caitlin Moran, I say...