Penny too hung up on trans rights to be PM, says Tory women’s group
TORY leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt was branded ‘a warrior for the trans lobby’ last night as her ‘woke’ views became a central issue of her bid to succeed Boris Johnson.
Trade Minister Ms Mordaunt came under fresh fire for previously declaring that ‘trans men are men and trans women are women’.
The Portsmouth North MP, who once appeared on TV show Splash diving into a swimming pool, has emerged as one of the favourites in the race to become Tory leader and Prime Minister.
She has also been hailed by former Science Minister George Freeman as a candidate who could ‘restore public trust in the Conservative Party’.
But last night, campaign group Conservatives for Women (CfW) raised the alarm over the idea of someone with Ms Mordaunt’s ‘staunch views about trans rights’ becoming Tory leader – not least because those views are at odds with the majority of the party.
A CfW spokesman said: ‘She has always been a committed warrior for the trans lobby,’ adding: ‘Her promotion of mantras and failure to see how this may cause enormous harm to women’s rights and children raises questions over her judgment’.
Separately, there were claims last night that the MP had told the Cabinet in 2018 that trans rights were ‘the fight of our age’ in apparent comparison with the previous generation’s struggle for gay rights. That apparently prompted one Cabinet colleague to remark later: ‘That was one of the most ridiculous statements I’ve ever heard at Cabinet – and that’s quite a high bar.’
Ms Mordaunt could not be reached for comment last night.
In a 2021 Westminster debate, she declared that ‘trans men are men and trans women are women’.
The comment came during discussion of the Ministerial and Other Maternity Allowances Bill after the House of Lords forced an amendment to replace ‘pregnant people’ in the Bill with ‘expectant mothers’.
Ms Mordaunt, then Paymaster General, said: ‘The amendments we are accepting today are legitimate and understandable, and critically they are legally sound.
‘But let me say in supporting them from the Despatch Box that trans men are men and trans women are women and great care has been taken in the drafting and accepting of these amendments to ensure that message has got across.’
That prompted an earlier protest from CfW to Oliver Dowden, the then Conservative chairman.
The CfW complaint warned that Ms Mordaunt’s views undermined Government policy and risked causing ‘enormous harm’ to women and children.
In its letter, the group said: ‘Gender ideology undermines the safety of women and the dignity and privacy of both sexes.’
It added: ‘If trans women are women, that is the end of sex-segregated sport.
‘Globally, we already see a pattern of men self-identifying into women’s sport and taking prizes. How can this be justified?
‘If trans women are women there is no mechanism whereby women, including elderly and vulnerable women, can request sexsegregated intimate health and social care.’
The group also warned that some young people were facing a sustained attack and challenge to their sexual identity, adding: ‘Young men and women face being called “transphobic” if their sexual preference is for biological men or women.’