Veteran broadcaster and journalist Andrew Neil has slammed Labour for telling a “porky pie” after a landmark ruling on the legal definition of a woman. Supreme Court judges unanimously decided that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological females and not those who have changed gender.
Wednesday’s bombshell judgment, which has major implications for trans and female rights, was hailed as a “victory for common sense” by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and others. After the vote, women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson posted on social media platform X: “We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex.” Critics have pointed out that stance is at odds with Labour’s previous position.
In 2020, Sir Keir Starmer said MP Rosie Duffield’s comment that “only women have a cervix” was “not right”.
After being repeatedly asked about the issue while in opposition, the Prime Minister told The Sunday Times in 2023 that “99.9%” of women “of course … haven’t got a penis”.
But in April 2024, he told ITV that Ms Duffield was right to say “only women have a cervix”.
In response to Ms Phillipson’s remarks, Mr Neil wrote: “I think this is what you call an untruth. Or, in more common parlance, a porky pie.”
In her social media post, Ms Phillipson, who is also Education Secretary, went on to say: “This ruling brings clarity and confidence for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges and sports clubs.
“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this Government.”
Ms Duffield, who became an independent MP in the Commons after quitting Labour last year, said the Prime Minister should apologise to her for previously condemning her stance on the issue.
Asked whether there was anything Labour could do to bring her back into the fold, the Canterbury MP told Sky News: “A proper and sort of genuine sorry would be nice, but that isn’t going to happen under Keir Starmer’s leadership.”
A Labour source said following the ruling that Sir Keir had “hauled the Labour Party back to the common-sense position”.
