Mick Hartley

Debbie Hayton in the Spectator adds to the Starmer pile-on:

The reason for his answer and his rejection of basic biology, of course, is the vexed question: ‘what is a woman?’. Senior Labour politicians appear to be under orders to obfuscate, prevaricate, or do anything to avoid giving a straight answer to this. On Tuesday – International Women’s Day, of all days – Anneliese Dodds tied herself in knots to avoid giving a straight answer on Woman’s Hour. When faced with the same question, Yvette Cooper explained that she was ‘avoiding going down rabbit holes.’

Labour’s problem is that the entire party has fallen down a rabbit hole on one of the most basic facts of life. The party has been enchanted by the idea that men can become women and – presumably – women can become men, though we hear rather less about that. In their fantasy world, men and women are distinguished not by biological sex, but by gender identity. It is a matter of faith that can neither be proved nor falsified, like transubstantiation perhaps?

But while some Christians might believe earnestly that bread can be transformed into flesh, they do not tend to impose the idea on wider society. But the evangelists of gender identity ideology are not satisfied with an agreement to disagree over whether men can be transformed into women. They take no prisoners in their zeal to change society. And dissenters like JK Rowling and Rosie Duffield have faced harassment, abuse, and cancellation for daring to disagree.

If Starmer is serious about winning a general election he needs to stand up to the zealots. Not all Christians believe in transubstantiation, and not all trans people believe that transwomen are women. Indeed, those of us in touch with reality may well thank him for pointing this out.

The answer is simple. A woman is an adult human female – a human being characterised by female biology. Whatever nonsense Starmer has been led to believe, trans people do not need to pretend to be something that we are not in order to be protected against discrimination and abuse, and provided with the services we need.