Mick Hartley

Are we surprised? No, we are not surprised. Despite all the sex-realist noises coming from Labour prior to the election, they're now more interested in placating the trans lobby:

The Government will not carry forward plans to rewrite the Equality Act 2010 that were aimed at protecting single-sex spaces, the Minister for Women and Equalities has confirmed.

Anneliese Dodds said there were no plans to update the existing legislation, which the Conservatives had promised to reform ahead of the general election.

The Tories planned to rewrite the act in order to make it clear that “sex” in the legislation means “biological sex” instead of the gender with which a person identifies.

This would have allowed public bodies to stop transgender women entering women’s lavatories or changing rooms, as well as preventing them joining all-female sports teams.

A step too far for Labour, apparently.

In a written question in Parliament, John Glen, the shadow paymaster general, asked whether the Government intended to amend the legal definition of what a woman is.

Ms Dodds replied: “We are proud of the Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women. The Government does not plan to amend legal definitions in the act.”

Mims Davies, the shadow minister for women and equalities, warned Ms Dodds that Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to rewrite the act could create further “loopholes” for abusers.

“Labour simply cares more about appeasing woke ideologues than delivering on women’s safety,” she said.

“We introduced this change to provide much-needed clarity in the law to stop potential abusers exposing loopholes and acting in stopping the diluting of women’s safety.

“Only by legally enshrining the importance of single-sex spaces can this Labour Government give biological women the clarity, dignity, privacy and safety we need.”

The Equality Act was formulated at at time before gender became the new cause celebre so the wording is ambiguous on the difference between sex and gender identity, which wasn't a thing then (and isn't a thing now, either, but here we are), allowing for the kind of manipulation that lets men get into women-only spaces, women's sport, women's jails, rape centres, and so on. Clarification was required – yes, the Tories should have got round it a lot sooner – but the current ambiguity suits the gender activists. It seems to suit our new Labour government too.