Labour ‘kicking can down the road’ over schools trans rules

GUIDANCE for schools on pupils who identify as the opposite sex may not be published before the summer holidays, the Education Secretary signalled yesterday.

In an interview with the Mail, Bridget Phillipson refused to commit to getting the rules to teachers by the end of this school year.

Draft guidance published by the Tories in late 2023 urged caution when children ask to change their names or uniform and said parents should not be kept in the dark.

But Ms Phillipson is yet to finalise the rules, despite renewed pressure after the Supreme Court said transgender women aren’t female. It means transgender people must use facilities such as bathrooms that match their biological sex.

Tory education spokesman Laura Trott accused Ms Phillipson of ‘kicking the can down the road’.

Dr Hilary Cass led a review into gender services for children, which found they had been let down by a lack of research and evidence on the use of puberty blockers.

Ms Phillipson said: ‘I am determined to make sure schools have got practical, workable guidance that aligns with the recommendations of Dr Cass’s final review.’

Pressed on when the rules will be published, she said ‘it will be this year’, adding that school leaders have told her there were ‘gaps in the previous guidance’.

Campaigners said they would sue Ms Phillipson, along with the Equality and Human Rights Commission watchdog, over their interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling.

The Good Law Project announced a claim for a judicial review, claiming that the requirement for transgender people to use toilets according to their biological sex breaches Britain’s obligations under human rights law.