Kemi Badenoch has taken a triumphant swipe at woke Doctor Who actor David Tennant, who previously said the top Tory should “shut up” about women’s rights. The pro-trans actor launched a furious war of words with Ms Badenoch in 2024, who was the then-minister for equalities.
He told the LGBT Awards that he wanted a world in which Ms Badenoch “doesn’t exist anymore” due to her pro-women views. Following yesterday’s bombshell ruling by the Supreme Court that a women is defined as biological female, Ms Badenoch told Mr Tennant: “I was right”. She added: “Actually what is now really clear is that the law explains something that all children know, men are men and women are women.
“I think this is something that you would need a parliamentary review on. A lot of what’s going on is actually people misinterpreting the law and saying the law says things that it doesn’t mean.
“The Gender Recognition Act was brought in at a specific time before same sex marriage. We often have reviews of legislation. This is something that we can do again.
“If the sport is biological, then yes, I think [women’s sports should only be accessible to biological females]. If it is something like chess, where it’s not to do with physical attributes, I think that we can have exceptions there.”
By contrast Ms Badenoch heaped praise on Harry Potter author JK Rowling, describing herself as “a big fan”.
“She is one of those women who has been incredibly brave, but she also did something really special, which is she supported other women.
“This was something that was so helpful, making sure that those who did not have a voice got support. I was a minister; when people attacked me, I could shake it off, but I also made sure that I helped those people who were losing their jobs and being hounded out and having their reputations damaged because of this.”
JK Rowling, an outspoken critic of pro-trans policies, posted a celebratory image on social media last night, captioned “I love it when a plan comes together.”
She added on social media this morning: “In case it wasn’t clear: don’t f**k with Scottish women.”
Speaking to GB News, Ms Badenoch insisted she did take action on the issue of women’s rights while serving as Equalities Minister in government.
She told the channel: “You look at what happened in Scotland, where they were bringing in full self ID. I was the one who stopped that, bringing in that Section 35 judgment.
“I also supported a lot of the people who had been working on these cases, and I was bringing in legislation to emphasise that sex in the Equality Act was biological, just as the snap election was called. I wasn’t expecting that.
“But I spent my entire time as Equalities Minister really fighting on this issue.”
