Keir Starmer grilled on BBC phone-in present over Labour’s trans reforms
Sir Keir Starmer was today accused of speaking ‘twaddle’ over women’s rights as he was quizzed about Labour‘s transgender reforms during a fiery radio phone-in show.
The Labour leader was challenged about his party’s plans, should they win next week’s general election, to ‘modernise, simplify, and reform’ gender laws.
This includes making it easier for trans people to legally acquire a new gender by obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
But, taking questions on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sir Keir was grilled over Labour’s plans by Jane, a caller from London, who demanded protections for women’s-only spaces.
She urged the Labour leader to not ‘take anything from women’ in rewriting gender legislation, as Sir Keir stressed he would ‘protect women’s spaces’.
The Labour leader has previously been heavily criticised after sowing confusion about his stance on the definition of a ‘woman’.
He once claimed it was ‘not right’ to say only women have a cervix, while last year he stated that 99.9 per cent of women ‘of course haven’t got a penis’.
But, earlier this month, Sir Keir said he agreed with ex-Labour leader Sir Tony Blair who stated ‘a woman is with a vagina and a man is with a penis’.
Taking questions on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sir Keir Starmer was grilled over Labour’s plans by Jane, a caller from London , who demanded protections for women’s-only spaces
Sir Keir later made reference to the bitter row when Rishi Sunak joked about Labour’s position on trans people when the mother of murdered teen Brianna Ghey was in Parliament
So that’s why he’s called ‘Sir Flip-Flop’!
In 2021, Sir Keir Starmer said Labour would ‘introduce self-declaration for trans people’
Sir Keir Starmer is known as ‘Sir Flip-Flop’ to his Tory opponents due to his history of U-turns on major issues.
Here’s how the Labour leader has previously switched his stance on gender issues…
What is a woman?
Sir Keir has frequently sown confusion about his stance on the definition of a ‘woman’.
He once claimed it was ‘not right’ to say only women have a cervix, while last year he said that 99.9 per cent of women ‘of course haven’t got a penis’.
This led to claims he was suggesting 1 in 1,000 women have male genitalia.
But, earlier this month, Sir Keir said he agreed with ex-Labour leader Sir Tony Blair who stated ‘a woman is with a vagina and a man is with a penis’.
Self-identification
Last year, Sir Keir pointed to the fierce row over gender recognition reforms in Scotland as he confirmed a U-turn on self-identification for trans people.
The Labour leader stressed he now wanted to retain ‘a medical process’ for people legally acquiring a new gender and did not think ‘self-identification is the right way forward’.
It marked a reversal on the Labour leader’s past support for the introduction of self-identification for those seeking legal recognition of a new gender.
In 2021, Sir Keir had used a video marking Pride to say his party was ‘committed to updating the GRA to introduce self-declaration for trans people’.
During the Radio 5 Live phone-in, Jane said: ‘I’d like to ask Keir Starmer why he’s not listening to biological women when we say we don’t want to share our space with biological men?’
As Sir Keir replied that he was ‘listening’ and had ‘long championed women’s spaces’, including during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions, Jane interrupted.
‘I don’t care about all of that,’ she said. ‘What I care about is you saying that you’re going to allow men to identify as women, making GRCs easier, and then they can come into women’s spaces.’
As Sir Keir replied that Labour wanted to make the process for legally changing gender ‘more dignified’, Jane interrupted again.
‘This is not about being dignified, this is not about being ‘kind’ or ‘dignified’,’ she added.
‘This is about protecting women. Why are you putting our dignity on the line for a very few people?’
She later added: ‘Can you say now you will not allow men – biological men – under any guise to come into women’s safe spaces?
‘You need to think about 51 per cent of the population who are sick of the absolute twaddle that comes out of your mouth when we ask these questions.’
Sir Keir replied: ‘Firstly we will protect women’s spaces, that is my commitment.
‘There are some people that do not identify with the gender they are born into, they are often traumatised by that.’
He added: ‘We will protect women’s spaces – and I’ve been clear about that for a very long time.
‘I know you don’t want to hear about what I have done, but we will do it in the future as well.
‘I will also say this, there are a small number – granted – of people who are born into a sex they do not identify with, who are often very traumatised.
‘For 20 years now we have had a law which allows that to be recognised through a certificate.
‘And I will treat them, as I will treat every single person in this country, with dignity and respect and not allow this to become a toxic discussion.’
Sir Keir then made reference to a bitter political row, from earlier this year, when Rishi Sunak joked about Labour’s position on trans people when the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey – who was transgender – was in Parliament.
The Labour leader said: ‘Because this is where we end up; with the Prime Minister of the UK, Rishi Sunak, making an anti-trans joke in Parliament in front of the mother of a trans teen. That is a line we cannot cross.’
The Tories have pledged, in their own general election manifesto, to make clear that ‘sex means biological sex’ in the Equality Act, as they look to protect female-only spaces and stop trans women from competing in women’s sports.
