Starmer changes mind on what a woman is
Labour leader shifts his position on comments by Rosie Duffield that only women have cervixes
ROSIE DUFFIELD was right to say that only women have a cervix, Sir Keir Starmer has said, in a sign of a shift in his stance on gender.
The Labour leader said that his views on gender issues “start with biology” and that his party’s MP for Canterbury was “biologically” correct by stating only women can have a cervix. In 2021, Sir Keir leader had criticised Ms Duffield for saying only women have a cervix, saying her comment was “something that shouldn’t be said. It’s not right”.
But asked on ITV’S Good Morning Britain yesterday whether Ms Duffield’s statement was right or wrong, Sir Keir said: “Biologically, she of course is right about that.”
Sir Keir, however, would not apologise to Ms Duffield, instead saying that the pair “discuss a number of issues” and “get on very well”.
Ms Duffield, a prominent feminist campaigner who believes a person’s sex cannot be changed, has regularly complained about her experiences in the party, and has likened it to being in an abusive relationship.
She has previously been heckled by male colleagues on her benches while speaking about trans issues in the Commons, which prompted her to accuse Labour of having a “woman problem”.
Sir Keir’s comments are the latest sign of a shift in stance from the top of the Labour Party on trans issues, in the wake of the Cass Review into gender care for children.
The review found that evidence for allowing young people to change gender was built on weak foundations and that there was no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of treatments such as puberty blockers, given to children. In his first comments on gender since the review’s publication, Sir Keir said: “There’s a distinction between sex and gender. The Labour Party has championed women’s rights for a very long time.”
However, when asked about whether Ms Duffield was owed an apology by the party, he told ITV: “I don’t want this to go back into this toxic place where everybody is divided.”
He added: “Rosie Duffield and I get on very well, we discuss a number of issues.
“She’s a much-respected member of the Parliamentary Labour Party and I want to have a discussion with her and anybody else about how we go forward in a positive way.”
Sir Keir has been trying to clarify his views on gender since 2021, when he struggled to say whether or not a woman could have a penis.
In 2023, he said that 99.9 per cent of women “haven’t got a penis”, before going on to say in July last year: “Firstly, a woman is an adult female, so let’s clear that one up.”
His latest remarks come after the Government proposed changes to England’s NHS constitution, to give patients the right to request to be treated on single-sex wards, with transgender people placed in rooms on their own. Asked how Labour would respond to transgender women who did not want to go on male wards, Sir Keir said: “We have to accommodate that situation as it arises, but treat everybody with respect and dignity… I do not accept this is an issue that cannot be resolved with respect and dignity.”
He added: “Where we need to make accommodations, we can make accommodations… As a country, we’re a pretty reasonable, tolerant bunch and most people know that there are a small number of individuals who do not identify with the gender that they were born into. Many of them suffer great distress and trauma. And for my part, I’m perfectly happy to say I would treat them, as I would treat anybody, with respect.”