Labour must clarify its position on transgender policy if it wants to win the next election, Sir Keir Starmer has been told.
Labour MPs are concerned the party needs to ‘come up with an answer’ to the trans question that ‘secures women’s rights’ and senior figures have urged the need to bring policy in line with public opinion.
It comes after Nicola Sturgeon‘s approach to transgender rights was blamed for her dwindling support within the Scottish Nationalist Party and a 40 per cent decline in party membership.
But senior figures in the Labour Party have warned Sir Keir Starmer must not fall into a ‘similar trap’ by trying to do good for a ‘very small’ minority group at the risk of alienating women.
A Labour Party source told the Telegraph: ‘In many respects she [Nicola Sturgeon] was the most successful politican of our generation yet she was brought down by the Gender Recognition Act.
Labour MPs are concerned the party needs to ‘come up with an answer’ to the trans question that ‘secures women’s rights’ and senior figures have urged the need to bring policy in line with public opinion
‘The public were in a different place to the politicians. In trying to do good for a very small minority group, you inadvertently offend an awful lot of women who feel their place in society is being eliminated. You have to balance the needs of different groups.’
Sir Keir pledged to the LGBT community in 2021 he would introduce similar legislation to Scotland’s Gender Recognition Act which would allow transgender people to self-declare their gender in England and Wales.
But it has been said 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 allowing 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 and admitted she had become a ‘polarising figure’.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
