Sir Keir Starmer has refused to concede he was wrong to say 'trans women are women' during a heated Prime Minister's Questions session on Wednesday, the first since the Easter recess. The Prime Minister was repeatedly challenged by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch over his shifting views on gender.
Ms Badenoch accused Sir Keir of lacking 'moral courage' and said he 'doesn't have the balls' to reveal his true opinions in public. She also demanded an apology for women's rights campaigner Rosie Duffield, who was 'hounded out' of the Labour Party and now sits as an independent. Ms Duffield watched from the Commons gallery as the Prime Minister avoided the call.
The exchanges came after Sir Keir gave his first direct response to last week's Supreme Court ruling, which confirmed that women are defined by their biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. The ruling means transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if 'proportionate'.
In contrast, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has stated clearly that trans women are 'by definition not the same as biological women', and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy acknowledged she 'misunderstood the application of the law' before the ruling. Sir Keir said he welcomed the Supreme Court ruling and would implement it, adding that he wanted to 'lower the temperature' and conduct the debate with 'care and compassion'.
Ms Badenoch suggested the Prime Minister had 'hidden' from responding to the ruling for six days because he was 'scared' and did not 'have the balls' to tackle the issues. Sir Keir replied that he did not want to turn gender issues into a 'political football' and would continue to treat everyone with 'dignity and respect'.
