Labor must clarify its policy on transgender issues to win next election, Sir Keir Starmer is told
- Labor figures have urged the need to align politics with public opinion
- It comes after Nicola Sturgeon was ‘struck down by the Gender Recognition Act’
Labor must clarify its position on transgender politics if it is to win the next election, Sir Keir Starmer has been told.
Labor MPs are concerned the party needs to “provide an answer” to the trans question that “guarantees women’s rights” and senior figures have urged the need to align policy with public opinion.
It comes after Nicola Sturgeon’s focus on transgender rights was blamed for her waning support within the Scottish Nationalist Party and a 40 per cent decline in party membership.
But top Labor Party officials have warned Sir Keir Starmer not to fall into a “similar trap” by trying to do good for a “very small” minority group at the risk of alienating women.
A Labor Party source told the Telegraph: “In many ways she (Nicola Sturgeon) was the most successful politician of our generation, but she was struck down by the Gender Recognition Act.”
Labor MPs are concerned the party needs to “provide an answer” to the trans question that “guarantees women’s rights” and senior figures have urged the need to align policy with public opinion.
‘The public was in a different place than the politicians. By trying to do good for a very small minority group, you inadvertently offend a large number of women who feel their place in society is being taken away. You have to balance the needs of different groups.’
Sir Keir committed to the LGBT community in 2021 to introduce legislation similar to the Scottish Gender Recognition Act that would allow transgender people to self-declare their gender in England and Wales.
But there has been talk that this policy could be “quietly” dropped between now and the next general election, according to the Telegraph.
Scotland’s highly controversial gender reform bill, which proposed to allow anyone over the age of 16 to legally change their sex without consulting a doctor, was blocked by Westminster from receiving royal assent in January this year.
Soon after, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation, admitting that she had become a ‘polarizing figure’.