Mick Hartley

It’s encouraging that the new head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, is staying firm on the question of single-sex spaces. From the Times:

The government is facing renewed pressure to publish delayed guidance on single-sex spaces after the new chair of the equalities watchdog insisted the document was “legally sound”.

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson addressed the issue of the guidance after replacing Baroness Falkner of Margravine as head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) earlier this month.

The EHRC submitted its updated code of practice to Bridget Phillipson, the women and equalities minister, in September. But four months on, the guidance, which will be used by businesses and other organisations to inform their provision of single-sex services such as toilets and changing rooms, is still awaiting ministerial approval.

It’s quite clear by now that the government has no appetite for this, preferring to prevaricate as long as possible to appease their trans support. When Bridget Phillipson cites the example of a woman not being able to bring her male infant into the women’s toilet as a an example of the “difficulties” that need to be ironed out, you know she’s desperate.

Rosie Duffield, a former Labour politician who stands as an independent MP after resigning from the party, said in the wake of Stephenson’s comments women’s groups were “furious” about the delay and urged the government to act.

Duffield, who has been a long-time campaigner for female-only spaces and services to remain single sex, told The Times: “As the chair of the EHRC says, the work they have done is comprehensive and legally sound. All the government have to do is implement that and give clear guidance to the organisations who have been waiting for almost five months now.

“They have to abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling and have said they will, so why the huge gap between saying that and acknowledging the work of the EHRC, who have issued clear and straightforward guidance?”

Maya Forstater, chief executive of Sex Matters, which campaigns for single-sex rights, warned that any further delays could land the government in court. She said: “The government seems to be engaged in a frantic search for loopholes in the Supreme Court’s judgment that sex in the Equality Act means biology, not paperwork.

“This is a shameful way to behave. Rather than dragging its feet, the government needs to lay the EHRC guidance before parliament without delay, and moreover ensure all its own policies comply with the law. The government has only two choices: follow the law or change the law. If it continues to prevaricate, it will end up in court.”