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Dozens of Labour MPs have joined forces in an effort to steer young men away from “toxic influencers” and the manosphere with positive messages about fatherhood and the promise of better paternity rights, the Guardian has learned.
The new group of predominantly male MPs, many with seats in “red wall” constituencies, are urging Labour to speak to men directly, warning that by “leaving a void” they are allowing figures on the right to dominate the discourse around masculinity.
On Wednesday the former England manager Gareth Southgate spoke of his fear that “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers” were taking the place of traditional father figures in society.
Southgate, who was praised for offering an alternative style of leadership during his tenure, said he had spoken to many parents who were concerned about the boys and young men in their lives.
“Young men are suffering. They are feeling isolated. They’re grappling with their masculinity and with their broader place in society,” he said. “And this void is filled by a new kind of role model who do not have their best interests at heart. These are callous, manipulative and toxic influencers whose sole drive is for their own gain.”
Southgate’s call to arms struck a chord with Labour MPs in the new group aiming to tackle toxic masculinity, said Shaun Davies, who represents Telford in Shropshire.
“Southgate’s message absolutely underlines the work that we are doing in parliament and the work that we want the government to do, which is to provide positive role models to boys and also support for men to be better dads and better caregivers,” he said.
“If we don’t get a positive message out there, unfortunately people who don’t have the best interests of boys and men at heart will be able to fill that void and exploit it.”
There is growing momentum in Westminster around issues related to boys and men, boosted by the new alliance of about 30 male and female MPs. They include Gregor Poynton, MP for Livingston, Jon Pearce, who represents High Peak, and Luke Charters, MP for York Outer.
Formed after a campaign group, the Dad Shift, wrote to Keir Starmer calling on him to improve paternity leave, members are coordinating debates, hosting meetings and meeting ministers.
The push also speaks to mounting concern within Labour high command about the threat of Reform UK, with an Opinium poll for the Observer last month showing Nigel Farage’s party neck-and-neck with Labour.
There is a stark gender divide in support for Reform: 13% of young men aged between 18 and 24 voted for the hard right party compared with just 6% of women, according to research from King’s College London.
Urging the government to overcome the “political snobbery” around issues that affect men, Davies added: “Reform and the Tories pretend to be pro-men, but actually they sell out men by not voting for policies like more flexibility at work. There’s a misrepresentation around what masculinity is, when … every bit of research shows that this generation of dads want to be with their kids.”
Activists in the women’s movement have increasingly focused on better rights for fathers in recent years, seeing it as crucial for tackling gender discrimination. With only two statutory weeks of leave – paid at £184.03 a week – the UK has one of the worst paternity leave offerings in Europe, while recent research found one in three UK fathers took no paternity leave after the birth of their child.
Backbenchers including the prominent MP Stella Creasy – alongside pressure from campaigners – secured a government review of all parental-leave rights by next year in the employment rights bill, after agitating for paid and protected leave for dads and partners.
“At the moment the bill risks reinforcing the idea that it’s still a battle between the sexes,” said Creasy, MP for Walthamstow in east London. “Politicians are still behind the curve on this, and our constituents urgently need us to push for the world they want to live in.”
The bill – which will bring an extra 30,000 fathers or partners into scope for paternity leave and make all parental leave a day one right – was “absolutely” giving a positive message to dads, said Lola McEvoy, the MP for Darlington. “The bill is a really great step, but we’ve got a new government, let’s go further,” she said.
George Gabriel, co-founder of the Dad Shift, said men had so far not been sufficiently present in the fight for equality between the sexes, which had been weaponised in the culture wars.
Research last month suggested that young men were less positive than young women about the impact of feminism, with 36% of 16- to 29-year-old men stating it had done more good than harm compared with 46% of women. Sixteen per cent of men from the same age group said feminism had done more harm than good, compared with 9% of women.
“We urgently need to get the vast majority of equality-minded men speaking up, and the way to do that is to focus on issues – like paternity leave – that are good for men, good for women and good for society,” he said.
Gabriel praised Southgate for becoming part of the “counter movement” against misogynistic influencers such as Andrew Tate. “We’re fed up of these dickheads claiming to speak for men and claiming to know what masculinity is, while punching down, while playing the victim and while breaking things they don’t understand,” he said.
On Wednesday Starmer revealed that he was watching the Netflix drama Adolescence, which explores the insidious influence of “incel culture”, telling MPs that violence carried out by young men influenced by what they see online “is a real problem” and adding: “It’s abhorrent and we have to tackle it. This is also a matter of culture.”
