Mick Hartley

No surprise, but still….many Labour MPs are still in thrall to gender ideology:

Labour MPs have deemed the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman as “completely unnecessary” and a “backslide” on rights, months after the judgment.

Analysis by The Times of responses to constituents from Labour MPs found politicians claimed the ruling was being weaponised by the far right and that “bigots [would] feel empowered by a false belief that the law is now on their side”.

For instance:

Andrew Western, a work and pensions minister and the MP for Stretford & Urmston, told one constituent that he believed the case was “completely unnecessary” and he appreciated “the fear and distress that has resulted” from it.

Josh Newbury, the MP for Cannock Chase, said in a letter it was “clear in my view that trans women are women and that trans men are men”. He said the Supreme Court ruling did not contradict that but that “the misinterpretation of, and fallout from, the ruling has wrongly brought this into question”.

He said: “I do not believe it is morally right for trans people to be excluded from single-sex spaces designated for their gender.”…

Emily Darlington, the MP for Milton Keynes Central, suggested the “far right” was exploiting the issue to sow division. She said: “The UK is increasingly at odds with European peer countries on trans rights, and anti-trans rhetoric is gaining influence in public and policy spheres.”

Or rather: the UK  – "Terf Island" – is ahead of Europe in resisting the trans tide, and insisting on the importance of single-sex spaces for women. Biological real women, that is. 

Labour Women’s Declaration, a group which backs sex-based rights, said the responses were “both disappointing and deeply concerning” and risked leaving the public confused over the party’s position.

A spokeswoman said: “Of particular concern are the number of MPs and peers who are openly saying that the rights of trans people are under threat. This not only calls into question the legitimacy of the Supreme Court judgment which explicitly states the ruling ‘does not remove protection from trans people’, it actively fuels fear within the very community they claim to support.”

She said: “We now call upon the government to maintain their resolve and remind outlier Labour MPs, who seek to push their own agenda, of their duty to uphold the law.”

Maya Forstater, chief executive of the charity Sex Matters, said that leadership was needed so that MPs understood the law.

She said: “Every government has backbench rebels. But when they make dismissive and factually incorrect statements that run directly counter to the government’s stated position, it’s a failure of leadership to let them stand.”

We await Sir Keir's firm and resolute rebuke to these wayward MPs.