"A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear." Those were the words of Keir Starmer on Parliament's first day back after Easter, following the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equality law.
The "casual observer" may remember that as recently as 2022 the prime minister insisted "trans women are women", said The Times.
But with the law "now clarified" by the Supreme Court, Starmer "has set out the position he and his party slowly moved towards as last year's election came into view – that biological sex is what matters".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What did the commentators say?
It is an "embarrassing" attempt to "rewrite history", said Hannah Barnes in The New Statesman. It was Starmer who dismissed the then Labour MP Rosie Duffield's statement that "only women have a cervix" as "something that shouldn't be said".
"What a difference three years make," said Tom Slater in The Telegraph. While I welcome Starmer's realisation that "you cannot have sex-based rights if you don't believe in sex", his "volte-face" on this issue only reveals that he is an "anti-conviction politician". He is "an empty, slabheaded receptacle into which any mad idea can be poured, only to be jettisoned when it is politically expedient".
Many Labour MPs will be "uneasy" with this new position, said Henry Zeffman on the BBC. They "believe that trans women are women, and that to be treated with dignity and respect they ought to be able to use the toilets they believe match their gender identity". A "backlash" may now be "brewing".
That may have already begun with WhatsApp messages leaked to the Mail on Sunday allegedly including the Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle writing "the ruling is not as catastrophic as it seems but the EHRC [Equality and Human Rights Commission] guidance might be & there are already signs that some public bodies are overreacting".
Government sources told Sky News "these messages are hardly evidence of any kind of plot or mass revolt against the Supreme Court's ruling". But the broadcaster added it still raises "uncomfortable questions".
What next?
Politicians who have campaigned in support of trans rights point towards commitments in Labour's general election manifesto to introduce a "trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices" and to "modernise, simplify, and reform" gender recognition law. Those are "still Labour Party policies", added the BBC's Zeffman and "any sign of backsliding on that, and this debate may again become a tense one within Labour's ranks".
-
Political cartoons for October 26Cartoons Sunday’s editorial cartoons include Young Republicans group chat, Louvre robbery, and more
-
Why Britain is struggling to stop the ransomware cyberattacksThe Explainer New business models have greatly lowered barriers to entry for criminal hackers
-
Greene’s rebellion: a Maga hardliner turns against TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
-
Five takeaways from Plaid Cymru’s historic Caerphilly by-election winThe Explainer The ‘big beasts’ were ‘humbled’ but there was disappointment for second-placed Reform too
-
The Chinese threat: No. 10’s evidence leads to more questionsTalking Point Keir Starmer is under pressure after collapsed spying trial
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rightsThe Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Your Party: a Pythonesque shamblesTalking Point Comical disagreements within Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's group highlight their precarious position
-
Behind the ‘Boriswave’: Farage plans to scrap indefinite leave to remainThe Explainer The problem of the post-Brexit immigration surge – and Reform’s radical solution
-
Can the Lib Dems be a party of government again?Today's Big Question Leader Ed Davey is urged to drop the stunts and present a serious plan for the country
-
What is Donald Trump’s visit worth to the UK economy?In the Spotlight Centrepiece of the president’s trip, business-wise, is a ‘technology partnership’
-
Is Andy Burnham making a bid to replace Keir Starmer?Today's Big Question Mayor of Manchester on manoeuvres but faces a number of obstacles before he can even run
