Keir accused of ‘political point-scoring’ on Brianna
Badenoch hits back following heated PMQs trans debate
KEMI Badenoch yesterday accused Labour of ‘ political point- scoring’ over the brutal murder of transgender teenager Brianna Ghey.
The Equalities Minister said Labour had ‘ trivialised’ the killing by demanding that Rishi Sunak apologise for mocking Sir Keir Starmer’s views on gender issues while Brianna’s mother was at Westminster.
During clashes in the Commons at lunchtime, the Prime Minister alluded to Sir Keir’s difficulty in ‘ defining a woman’ as he set out a series of policy flip-flops by the Labour leader.
Labour reacted with fury, saying it was offensive to raise the issue when Esther Ghey was due to be in the public gallery ahead of a meeting with Sir Keir.
But Mrs Badenoch accused Sir Keir of trying to ‘weaponise’ the issue in a bid to distract from his own confusion over the trans debate.
On X, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘ Every murder is a tragedy. None should be trivialised by political point-scoring.
‘As a mother, I can imagine the trauma that Esther Ghey has endured. It was shameful of Starmer to link his own inability to be clear on the matter of sex and gender directly to her grief.
‘As Minister for Women and Equalities I’ve done all I can to ensure we take the heat out of the debate on LGBT issues
‘Labour trivialised the issue’
while being clear about our beliefs and principles. Keir Starmer’s behaviour today shows Labour are happy to weaponise this issue when it suits them.’
Brianna’s family were last night invited to meet the Prime Minister, although it was unclear when it would happen, the BBC reported.
While Ms Ghey did not want to comment on events in the Commons, Brianna’s father, Peter Spooner, said: ‘For the Prime Minister of our country to come out with degrading comments like he did... identities of people should not be used in that manner.
‘I personally feel shocked and he should apologise for his remarks.’
The row followed heated exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions, where Mr Sunak told Sir Keir: ‘It is a bit rich to hear about promises from someone who has broken every single promise he was elected on. I think I have counted almost 30 in the last year. Pensions, planning, peerages, public sector pay, tuition fees, childcare, second referendums, defining a woman –although in fairness, that was only 99 per cent of a U-turn.’
The Labour leader condemned the remark, saying: ‘ Of all the weeks to say that, when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber. Shame. Parading as a man of integrity when he’s got absolutely no responsibility.’
The Prime Minister later paid tribute to Ms Ghey, who is campaigning for under- 16s to be banned from using smartphones.
Mr Sunak said that Brianna’s mother had demonstrated ‘compassion and empathy’ and ‘the very best of humanity in the face of seeing the very worst of humanity’.
Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe were both 15 when they killed Brianna, 16, with a hunting knife last year. They were jailed for 22 and 20 years respectively last week, with the judge noting that Ratcliffe was ‘motivated in part by hostility towards Brianna because she was transgender’. The PM’s press secretary denied claims that Mr Sunak’s words were ‘transphobic’, adding: ‘There was a long list of U-turns the leader of the opposition had been making. I don’t think they are a joke, it is quite serious changes in public policy.’
And the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the BBC: ‘He [The PM] made it clear the respect he has for Brianna Ghey’s mother... the point he was making was about Labour flip- flopping on really important issues.’
But Labour demanded an apology, with a spokesman for Sir Keir saying: ‘We don’t think the country wants or deserves a Prime Minister that is happy to use minorities as a punchbag.’
THE murder of transgender girl Brianna Ghey by two sadistic, deeply disturbed schoolchildren was so horrific it almost defied comprehension.
The dignity shown by the 16-year- old’s devastated mother Esther has been extraordinary and moving. Why then did Sir Keir Starmer deliberately and cynically drag her into a political storm?
For Labour’s leader to weaponise this tragedy in order to shut down discussion of gender ideology was truly reprehensible.
This paper has always said that people have every right to identify as whatever gender they feel comfortable with.
But that does not extend to men who selfidentify as women automatically being given access to safe female spaces such as changing rooms.
When Rishi Sunak sought to highlight his opponent’s endless policy flip-flopping, he mocked Sir Keir’s difficulty in ‘defining a woman’. Adopting a tone of disgust, Labour’s leader said it was offensive to raise the issue when Ms Ghey was in the Commons campaigning for child safety and demanded the Prime Minister apologise.
His confected outrage (with the BBC and Sky also getting into a lather on his behalf) is as transparent as it is risible.
It is disingenuous to accuse the PM of being disrespectful. Perhaps he was slightly tactless. But it is perfectly reasonable to condemn Brianna’s murder while arguing that biological reality should be respected.
Sir Keir accuses Mr Sunak of insensitivity, but he is the one exploiting a family’s bereavement for base political motives. For someone who claims to lead a compassionate party, it is the worst kind of opportunism.