JK Rowling assaults Labour’s Lisa Nandy over trans athletes row

JK Rowling today blasted Lisa Nandy after the Culture Secretary waded into a row over transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.

The Harry Potter author claimed Ms Nandy was ‘one of the main reasons I couldn’t vote Labour’ as she attacked the Cabinet minister’s stance on trans issues.

She hit out after Ms Nandy said it was the ‘right approach’ for individual sporting bodies to decide whether to bar trans athletes from female competitions.

It risked accusations the Culture Secretary was watering down the Government’s position after her Tory predecessor, Lucy Frazer, previously demanded a total ban.

In her attack on the Labour politician, Rowling noted how Ms Nandy once said trans women ‘should be accommodated in a prison of their choosing’.

JK Rowling today blasted Lisa Nandy (pictured) after the Culture Secretary waded into a row over transgender athletes competing in women’s sports

The Harry Potter author claimed Ms Nandy was ‘one of the main reasons I couldn’t vote Labour’ as she attacked the Cabinet minister’s stance on trans issues

In her attack on the Labour politician, Rowling noted how Ms Nandy once said trans women ‘should be accommodated in a prison of their choosing’

Writing for the Mail in April, Ms Frazer called for sporting bodies to take an ‘unambiguous position’ on trans athletes competing in women’s sports.

It came after she gathered representatives from key sporting organisations, like the England and Wales Cricket Board and Football Association, to encourage them to ‘follow the lead of other sports in not allowing trans athletes to compete against women at the elite level’.

A number of sports have already moved to ban trans athletes from female competitions, while some have introduced restrictions on trans women’s testosterone levels.

In an interview with The House magazine, Ms Nandy said it was the ‘right approach’ for decisions to be made by individual sports.

‘I think we ought to respect the fact that they’re far more expert in making those judgments and decisions than we are,’ she said.

The Culture Secretary added that ‘broadly speaking, most sports have got that right’.

‘Obviously, as I’m newly appointed and I’m talking to stakeholders, I want to make sure that they feel supported to be able to make those decisions fairly,’ she continued.

‘But I think most have come to the conclusion that – although they want to be as inclusive as possible – biology does matter when it comes to sport.

‘And that it’s impossible to balance the requirement of fairness without ensuring that they take biology into account. I think that’s broadly sensible.’

Rowling accused Ms Nandy of backing the right of trans athletes to compete in women’s sports.

She posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: ‘A woman who thinks trans-identified sex offenders should be in ‘the prison of their choosing’ was hardly going to balk at males in women’s sport, was she?

‘Lisa Nandy told us loudly and proudly who she was pre-election. She’s one of the main reasons I couldn’t vote Labour.’

Earlier this month, the author – who has frequently clashed with senior Labour figures on trans issues – revealed she had backed an independent candidate in her Edinburgh constituency at the general election, rather than vote for Labour.

She previously admitted she would ‘struggle to support’ Labour despite having once been a party donor.

Fiona McAnena, of women’s rights campaign group Sex Matters, that ‘broadly nothing has changed’ following Ms Nandy’s comments.

She told GB News: ‘I think it’s a sign of the times that we have to be grateful to hear the secretary of state confirm that she thinks that biology matters in sport.

‘It’s a sorry state of affairs but that’s where we are, it’s the essential starting point.

‘Broadly nothing has changed. What we have is some good guidance from the sports councils that’s now almost three years old.

‘And, for some reason, many sports are still waiting, they claim they’re reviewing, for whatever reason they have not been able to publish a new policy.

‘So we still have dozens of sports across the UK where there are male competitors in women’s competitions, in women’s changing rooms.

‘It’s a major deterrent for lots of women and girls. But, as I say, she has at least acknowledged that biology matters.’