Mick Hartley

From the Times:

Labour’s plans for tougher hate crime laws risk aiding censorship and threatening liberal values, a think tank has said.

A report by the right-wing Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) said prominent cases proved that transgender activists “do not aim to win the debate but rather to prevent debate from occurring”.

This was demonstrated, it claimed in a report, by influential activist groups such as Stonewall and Mermaids that call for gender-critical views to be criminalised under hate speech laws.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has stated an intention to bolster hate crime legislation to make sure “every LGBT crime is treated as an aggravated offence”.

Marc Glendening, author of the think tank’s report, said the widespread endorsement of “political transgenderism” was a threat to liberal values. He said: “The freedom of individuals to express opinions on trans issues is under serious threat. This is undermining the ability to have sensible and necessary debates on controversial topics….

Glendening said that transgender people should be free to identify with their chosen gender but that trans identity and policy should also be debatable.

In other words, yes, people should be able to live as they want, but that doesn't mean we should be unable to comment, or disagree – and it certainly shouldn't mean that it becomes a hate crime to comment or disagree.

Maya Forstater, co-founder and executive director of the gender-critical charity Sex Matters, said that the report explained how political transgenderism “corrupts institutions, language, law and social power”. She said: “This not just a culture war issue between conservatives and liberals but one that strikes at the heart of liberal values, and warrants serious discussion and debate.”

A Labour source said: “This is nonsense from the organisation that created the blueprint for Liz Truss’s disastrous kamikaze budget which crashed the economy and saddled working people with a mortgage bombshell.”

Nasty bit of whataboutery in that Labour response – completely ducking the issue. It really doesn't look good, and rather reinforces the view that this censorship and attack on liberal values is indeed what we might be seeing from a future Labour government.