Labour will make it easier to change sex
After PM declares ‘a woman is a woman’, rift widens between the two main parties on ‘woke’ policies
LABOUR last night faced a growing political row over plans to make it easier for people to change gender – just days after Rishi Sunak declared: ‘A man is a man and a woman is a woman.’
In a sign of the growing gulf between the two main parties over ‘woke’ issues, delegates at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool this week will vote on a proposal to ‘modernise, simplify and reform’ the transition process; if approved, the plan is likely to form part of the party’s election manifesto.
The Prime Minister was cheered during his speech to the Tory conference in Manchester last week when he said: ‘We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be – they can’t. A man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.’
But a report by Labour’s National Policy Forum, to be voted on tomorrow, says: ‘The process of gender recognition is intrusive, outdated and humiliating. Labour will modernise, simplify and reform the gender recognition law to a new process, taking into account international evidence of what works.’
Leader Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed his support for people being able to self-identify their gender, only to back away after a move by former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to do the same triggered a political storm.
Last night, experts said that the wording of the policy paved the way for the removal of the current need for doctors to sign off a change in gender.
Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said: ‘Labour backed self-ID for five years because it’s what they really believe. A policy that endangers women and girls.
‘This policy document shows they haven’t changed their minds. We should all be worried about their real plans if they’re ever in government.’
A poll for The Mail on Sunday today backs Mr Sunak’s definition of a woman – ‘a human being characterised by female biology’ – over Sir Keir’s by a margin of more than two to one.
The poll also shows a narrowing of the Labour lead over the Conservatives to 15 points, with Sir Keir’s party on 43 per cent and Mr Sunak’s on 28 per cent.
Feminist campaigner Julie Bindel said Labour was ‘tying itself in knots’, adding: ‘It wants to appear fully supportive of both the new wave of trans ideology and of women-only spaces and sex-based rights, yet has the nerve to accuse the Tories of “weaponising the gender war”.
‘It is very hard to trust Labour when they have been so entrenched in trans ideology in recent years, with Starmer saying that “some women can have a penis” and Lisa Nandy arguing that male child sex offenders posing as women should be allowed in women’s prisons.’
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 enabled people to change gender by acquiring a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). To qualify for it, two doctors have to agree the individual is suffering from gender dysphoria before getting their decision approved by a medical panel. Applicants must also have ‘lived as the opposite sex’ for at least two years.’
Ms Bindel said the conference proposal ‘can only mean scrapping the requirement for a medical diagnosis and approval by a panel of experts from the process of legally changing sex. I am not alone in suspecting senior figures in Labour, including Keir Starmer, remain committed to introducing self-ID if they win the election.
‘Plenty of trans activists within the party continue to speak publicly in support of this nonsense – a couple of weeks ago, MP Kate Osborne tweeted, “Yes, some women have a penis”.’
Last night, Labour declined to respond to Mrs Badenoch’s attack. But in July, party chairman and equalities spokesperson Anneliese Dodds accused the Tories of seeking to stoke ‘culture wars’ by pinning hopes for electoral success on ‘demonising vulnerable LGBT+ people’.
‘They believe in a policy that endangers women and girls’