Sir Keir Starmer no longer believes trans women are women, Downing Street said, as he faced a backlash from “deeply concerned” Labour MPs.
The prime minister backtracked on comments made to The Times in 2022, when he suggested sex was based on both biology and self-identification.
In response to last week’s landmark ruling in the Supreme Court, Starmer said on Tuesday that he backed its conclusion that segregated spaces such as toilets, changing rooms and refuges should be protected on the basis of biological sex.
But the author JK Rowling accused the prime minister of being a “coward”, while Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said he and his government had peddled a “shameless work of fiction” in claiming their position on the issue had not changed.
In the Commons, Labour MPs lined up to voice their concerns that trans people had been “victimised” and were now living in fear.
The prime minister had earlier told reporters that “a woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear”. He called it a “step forward” and added: “I actually welcome the judgment because I think it gives real clarity. It allows those that have got to draw up guidance to be really clear about what that guidance should say.”
But in 2022 he told the Times: “A woman is a female adult, and in addition to that trans women are women, and that is not just my view — that is actually the law.”
When asked on Tuesday if Starmer thought a trans woman was a woman, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “No.”
Labour MPs raised their concerns about Starmer’s stance during an often testy debate following a statement by Bridget Phillipson, the women and equalities minister.
Phillipson welcomed the Supreme Court providing “clarity”, saying ministers would work to “protect single-sex spaces based on biological sex”.
She added: “We will continue our wider work with commitment, with compassion, to protect all of those who need it right across society. Because this is a government that will support the rights of women and trans people, now and always.”
Trans people were “too often the butt of jokes”, Phillipson added, in an attack on the Conservatives.
She confirmed that the practice of mixed-sex hospital wards would be ended, and said in prisons and sports women-only spaces should also be protected on the basis of biological sex.
But Starmer was accused of reneging on his past views by Badenoch. She said Labour had been “so desperate to jump on a bandwagon that they abandoned common sense”.
Badenoch called Phillipson’s defence of Labour’s record on the issue a “shameless work of fiction”.
She added: “Labour now says that they know what a woman is and that transgender people should use services and facilities designated to their biological sex.
“They’ve never said this before; this is a U-turn but we welcome it.”
Her comments were echoed by Rowling, who accused Starmer and other Labour ministers of “shamelessness”.
The Harry Potter author wrote on X: “Women have been persecuted, harassed, smeared, roughed up and forced to take employers to court for discrimination. They’ve suffered severe detriments purely for believing what the Supreme Court has ruled to be reasonable and correct …
“Imagine being such a coward you can only muster the courage to tell the truth once the Supreme Court has ruled on what the truth is.”
Labour MPs said transgender people had been left without clarity over what toilets they should use, and were living in fear for their safety.
Dame Emily Thornberry, the MP for Islington South & Finsbury, said calls to a national LGBT helpline had “skyrocketed from callers who are in fear for what this ruling means to them”. She said that the “overwhelming threat” to women and trans people was cis men — those whose sex and gender align.
Nadia Whittome, the MP for Nottingham East, said she was “deeply concerned” about comments by Phillipson and Starmer’s spokesman. She criticised “trans people’s exclusion from toilets they have long used” and said there was “nothing in law” prohibiting trans women from using female toilets, and trans men from using male toilets.
Dawn Butler, the MP for Brent East, said she had been with “butch lesbian friends” when they were “told to get out of women’s toilets”. She added: “It is not pleasant, and it is not nice.”
Olivia Blake, the MP for Sheffield Hallam, said there was “considerable concern and fear” among trans people and called for “urgent steps” to ensure the Supreme Court was not misinterpreted or misrepresented to undermine their dignity or safety.
Trans people have been left “truly exhausted by the cynicism of the culture wars around this topic”, said another Labour MP, Maya Ellis.
But other Labour MPs expressed support with the case taken forward by the For Women Scotland group, which advocated for sex-based rights and took the Scottish government to court over its policy on gender targets on company boards.
For Women was praised for its years of work by Labour MP Tracy Gilbert, who said: “They were the public face of many women who have experienced discrimination, abuse and personal loss for making the argument that the Supreme Court made last Wednesday.”
Tonia Antoniazzi, the Labour MP for Gower, also said she had “felt the force of the [trans] lobby” and criticised the “damage” done by charities supporting children who questioned their gender.
Pro-trans protesters who displayed violent slogans at a demonstration in Westminster last weekend were also criticised. Phillipson said: “No one should be targeted through the use of vile placards containing abuse or hate.” She added it was wrong and “completely counterproductive” to their cause.
