Phillipson tells MPs government will continue to protect single-sex spaces
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and minister for women and equality, is making her statement about the supreme court judgement.
She starts by saying this is personal for her.
Before I was elected to this place, I ran a women’s refuge in the north-east for women and children fleeing domestic violence. I know how important it is, and always want survivors to have single sex spaces, based on biology – places of safety after trauma, time in a sanctuary which allowed them therapeutic support, healing from unimaginable male violence and fear.
Phillipson says the government will continue to protect single-sex spaces, based on biological sex.
And it will protect “the rights of all people with protected characteristics now and always”.
Phillipson explains the background to the supreme court ruling.
The people who brought the legal challenge (gender critical feminists) were “not always been treated with the respect that they deserve”, she says.
She says the government supports freedom of speech. But, referring to the protests at the weekend against the judgment, she says “there can be no excuse for defacing statutes and feminist icons, no excuse for threats, no excuse for harassment”.
Key events
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Phillipson says Badenoch ‘did nothing’ for women when she was equalities minister
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Badenoch says Labour’s claims to have always defended single-sex spaces are ‘shameless work of fiction’
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Phillipson criticises Tories for not protecting single-sex spaces, particularly in hospitals
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Phillipson tells MPs government will continue to protect single-sex spaces
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Britons opposed to Trump being allowed to address parliament by almost 3 to 1, poll suggests
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‘Extinction-level event’: Tories fear voters turning to Reform in Lincolnshire
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Rubbish levels in Birmingham now ‘approaching normal’, MPs told, due to efforts to clear bin strike backlog
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Prison officers to be allowed to use tasers under pilot scheme, Shabana Mahmood tells MPs
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No 10 claims government does not routinely ‘police toilets’ as questions continue about impact of supreme court’s ruling
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Lib Dems say IMF report shows need for ‘urgent rethink’ in UK economic policy
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Trans people have experienced ‘real anxiety’ following supreme court judgment, MSPs told
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DUP criticises minister for suggesting opinion polls could determine whether referendum held on Irish reunification
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IMF warns of ‘major negative shock’ from Trump’s tariffs, as it cuts its UK growth forecast from 1.6% to 1.1%
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No 10 says Starmer no longer argues trans women are women amid barrage of harsh questions at briefing
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No 10 refuses to commit to reversing Badenoch’s law curbing supply of unisex toilets – despite minister hinting more needed
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Phillipson to make statement to MPs about supreme court ruling affecting law on single-sex spaces
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Faculty of Advocates criticises Scottish Green MSP over ‘appalling’ attack on supreme court
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Starmer to attend Pope’s funeral, No 10 says
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Trump should be allowed to address parliament when he visits UK, minister says
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Britain and New Zealand to extend defence cooperation, No 10 says
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Phillipson dismisses claims government not adequately funding school breakfast clubs
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Badenoch has already ‘thrown in towel’ ahead of local elections, Lib Dems claim
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Badenoch says she’s ‘not a career politician’ as she plays down Tory prospects in local elections
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Home Office to publish nationalities of foreign criminals in UK
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Starmer says roll-out of breakfast clubs in primary schools in England will be ‘game-changing moment’ for families
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Phillipson urges firms to ensure ‘safe and appropriate’ toilets available for all, including trans people
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Starmer says he is ‘really pleased’ supreme court has given ‘much-needed clarity’ on definition of ‘woman’ in equalities law
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Supreme court ruling means trans women should use male toilets, says equalities minister Bridget Phillipson
Bridget Phillipson has urged the Conservatives to “get offline and get on board”.
Kemi Badenoch had told the Commons: “As minister for women and equalities, I published guidance for schools that made clear that toilets and changing rooms must be provided separately for girls and boys. She scrapped that guidance.
“Will she stand up to the unions and urgently publish what she now admits is the law?
“She also scrapped RHSE (relationships, health, and sex education) guidance to prevent schools from teaching contested gender ideology as fact. Will she now publish this guidance and remove materials that mis-state the law?”
Phillipson said in her reply: “Merely months before the election was called, they published a version of the draft guidance for gender-questioning children, and since that time we had the final review published by Dr Hilary Cass – it is right that we ensure that guidance aligns with Dr Cass’s final review.
“On the RHSE guidance, that consultation concluded after the election. We couldn’t be clearer – we will always protect single-sex spaces, and on this side of the House we are focused on delivering for women.”
She later added: “This Labour Government has a plan for change, a plan that will deliver for women. It’s time for her party to get offline and get on board.”
Kemi Badenoch has asked whether Keir Starmer will “crack down” on trans rights groups which protested over the weekend, after statues were daubed with graffiti.
She told the Commons: “Now that we have legal clarity, will the Prime Minister show some courage and do the right thing?
“Will he apologise to the member for Canterbury (independent MP Rosie Duffield) who faced so many security concerns as she was hounded out by the Labour Party and was rebuked by the Prime Minister and many Labour MPs sitting there looking at me for stating what the Supreme Court has now ruled to be true?
“Will she (Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson) apologise to the member for Canterbury? I doubt it.
“Will the Prime Minister crack down on the groups we saw defacing statues of Suffragists over the weekend with the same energy he reserves for his political opponents, or will we see more two-tier justice, because the last time we saw Labour MPs standing next to them with no rebuke whatsoever?”
Phillipson says Badenoch ‘did nothing’ for women when she was equalities minister
Andrew Sparrow
Phillipson was not cowered by Badenoch’s attack on Labour’s record on trans issues (see 5.57pm) and hit back forcefully.
Responding to the Tory leader, Phillipson said many people in Badenoch’s position would have run away from defending a record like hers. She went on:
She [Badenoch] had 14 years to provide clarity on the issues they may now claim to take an interest in, and the supreme court confirmed that Labour’s Equality Act is the basis for single sex spaces and protection. But they didn’t. They didn’t provide that clarity.
I have supported countless women and children fleeing male violence … And during my time running that refuge, while Labour was delivering the groundbreaking Equality Act, which this ruling confirms involved single-sex spaces, what was the leader of the opposition doing? She was busy hacking the website of the leading architect [of the Act – Harriet Harman].
She held the post of minister for women and equalities for two years, and did precisely nothing …
She comes here claiming to support women – look at her record and her party’s record: an increase in stalking offences, prosecutions and convictions for domestic abuse nearly halved since 2015 … a 2,000% increase in the use of mixed sex wards in over 10 years. That is their record.
That is all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is taking over now.
Badenoch says Labour’s claims to have always defended single-sex spaces are ‘shameless work of fiction’
Unusually, Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, responded to Phillipson’s statement on behalf of the opposition. She was minister for women and equalities in the last government and often sounds more animated when talking about transgender issues than anything else.
She started with the customary thanks for advance sight of the ministerial statement. But she said it was “mostly a shameless work of fiction”.
She explained:
I could not believe my eyes or my ears this afternoon. In 2021 the prime minister said it is not right to say only women have a cervix. In 2022 he said it is the law that trans women are women. In 2023 he said, and I quote, “99% of women don’t have a penis”.
I know what a woman is, and I always have the people of this country know what a woman is. We didn’t need the supreme court to tell us that, but this government did – a Labour government so desperate to jump on a bandwagon that they abandoned common sense, along with the SNP, who put rapists in women’s prisons, and, of course, the Liberal Democrats.
She claimed that Tories fought for women at every point but that it faced “hostility from activist groups”.
She said that, when she was in government, she argued for sex to be defined as biological sex. And she said she blocked the SNP introducing from introducing “their mad self identity laws”.
David Lammy, the foriegn secretary, even described opponents of gender self-ID as dinosaurs, she said. She goes on:
Labour now says that they knew what a woman is and the transgender should use services and facilities designated to their biological sex. They’ve never said this before. This is a U-turn, but we welcome it. Now that we have legal clarity.
Badenoch said that Starmer should apologise to Rosie Duffield, the former Labour MP who quit the party because, she said, she was virtually ostracised for her gender critical views.
Phillipson says the government will protect women’s wards.
And it will soon publish guidance on how trans patients should be accommodated.
She goes on:
We will continue to protect women’s safety with single-sex accommodation in women’s sport …
So in our prisons, in our hospitals, in sport, in a whole host of other spaces, what was true before the ruling remains true after the ruling – this government protects safe spaces for women under the Equality Act 2010.
Phillipson says the heat on this issued was “dialed up” by the Tories.
Rishi Sunak made jokes at the expense of trans people, she says.
By contrast, she claims, the Labour government will ensure trans people are treated with respect.
Phillipson criticises Tories for not protecting single-sex spaces, particularly in hospitals
Phillipson turns to the Conservatives, and attacks their record.
Our work to protect single-sex bases across society continues in earnest,because, for far too long, under the Conservative government, single-sex spaces were anything but.
And nowhere is that clearer than in our hospitals. Year after year, the party opposite pledged to close mixed sex wars, and yet, year after year, their views not only persisted. It grew massively and year after year, often in their most vulnerable moments, women were denied the privacy and the dignity that they deserved time after time.
Phillipson says the supreme court’s judgment is “welcome”.
The Equality and Human Rightxs Commission is updating its code of practice to reflect the ruling, she says. The government will review that, she says
Phillipson tells MPs government will continue to protect single-sex spaces
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and minister for women and equality, is making her statement about the supreme court judgement.
She starts by saying this is personal for her.
Before I was elected to this place, I ran a women’s refuge in the north-east for women and children fleeing domestic violence. I know how important it is, and always want survivors to have single sex spaces, based on biology – places of safety after trauma, time in a sanctuary which allowed them therapeutic support, healing from unimaginable male violence and fear.
Phillipson says the government will continue to protect single-sex spaces, based on biological sex.
And it will protect “the rights of all people with protected characteristics now and always”.
Phillipson explains the background to the supreme court ruling.
The people who brought the legal challenge (gender critical feminists) were “not always been treated with the respect that they deserve”, she says.
She says the government supports freedom of speech. But, referring to the protests at the weekend against the judgment, she says “there can be no excuse for defacing statutes and feminist icons, no excuse for threats, no excuse for harassment”.
JK Rowling, the author and gender critical feminist campaigner who part-funded the legal challenge that led to last week’s supreme court judgment, has criticised Keir Starmer over his response to the ruling. She posted this on social media.
Imagine being such a coward you can only muster the courage to tell the truth once the Supreme Court has ruled on what the truth is.
John Healey will meet his Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday, as the British government gathers allies to chart a course towards peace in the war-torn country, PA Media reports. PA says:
The defence secretary told the House of Commons that ministers and officials, including from the US and European nations, would discuss “what a ceasefire might look like and how to secure peace in the long-term” when they meet on Wednesday.
Healey also slapped down Vladimir’s Putin’s claims that Russia had observed a promised Easter truce, telling MPs that British military intelligence had found no indication of a pause in fighting.
He told MPs: “I will be also meeting tomorrow the Ukrainian defence minister (Rustem) Umerov and other allies as the government brings together the US, the UK and European ministers, and national defence security advisers, to discuss next steps, including what a ceasefire might look like and how to secure peace in the long-term.
“This war was never just about the fate of one nation. It is about not allowing national borders to be redrawn by force, it is about preventing aggressors across the world from being emboldened to threaten the security of all nations.”
Britons opposed to Trump being allowed to address parliament by almost 3 to 1, poll suggests
Britons are opposed to President Trump being invited to address parliament when he visits the UK by almost three to one, a YouGov poll suggests. Earlier today a government minister said he would be happy to see Trump speaking in parliament. (See 12.26pm.)
‘Extinction-level event’: Tories fear voters turning to Reform in Lincolnshire
Ben Quinn has been in Lincolnshire, where the battle between the Conservative party and Reform UK in the local and mayoral elections is particularly intense. He says some Tories fear an “extinction-level event”. You can read his report here.
Rubbish levels in Birmingham now ‘approaching normal’, MPs told, due to efforts to clear bin strike backlog
Most of the excess rubbish accumulated in Birmingham as a result of the bin strike has been cleared, MPs have been told.
Jim McMahon, the communities minister, said that, even though the strike continues, “significant progress” has been made in clearing the backlog.
Responding to an urgent question tabled by the Conservatives, he said:
The government has repeatedly called for Unite to call off the strikes and accept the fair deal that’s on the table.
The commissioners and the council are undertaking necessary reforms in the context of a challenging financial situation – the legacy of equal pay where women workers were systematically paid less than their male counterparts for similar roles – and although of course the council must chart that course themselves, our actions speak to our determination for the welfare of the citizens of Birmingham.
We’ve been providing intensive support to the council in its efforts to address the backlog of waste that has been building up on the city’s streets and significant progress has been made in the last fortnight.
Through a concerted effort, and with the assistance of other councils, private operators and the endeavour of many hundreds of determined workers who have worked extremely long hours, the result is 26,000 tonnes of excess waste have been removed and the levels are now approaching normal.
More than 100 bin trucks are out every day and regular bin collections have resumed. The council continues to monitor the situation closely to ensure that waste does not build up again.
Prison officers to be allowed to use tasers under pilot scheme, Shabana Mahmood tells MPs
Prison officers in England and Wales will be allowed to use tasers under a pilot to see if this helps keep them safe, Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has announced.
Speaking during justice questions, she said the use of tasers will be piloted following the attack at HMP Frankland which saw guards attacked with hot oil and homemade weapons by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi.
Mahmood said:
The house will be aware of the attack at HMP Frankland on the 12 of April. The bravery of the officers involved that day undoubtedly saved lives, my thoughts are with them as they recover.
I think also of the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing and their families, who are understandably outraged.
Since the attack, I have suspended access to kitchens in separation centres and in close supervision centres. Alongside that, an independent review will ascertain how this incident was able to happen, what more must be done to protect prison staff and, more widely, how separation centres are run.
The Prison Service will also conduct a snap review of the use of protective bodily armour. In addition, I can today announced that HMPPS (HM Prison and Probation Service) will trial the use of tasers in our prisons.
Wherever we can strengthen our defences, to better protect our staff and the public, we will do so.
No 10 claims government does not routinely ‘police toilets’ as questions continue about impact of supreme court’s ruling
At the afternoon lobby briefing Downing Street was again asked if the government was sticking with the regulations introduced by Kemi Badenoch intended to phase out the provision of unisex toilets. (See 1.33pm.) Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and minister for women and equalities, has suggested that last week’s supreme court judgment means more unisex toilets are needed, not fewer.
At the briefing, after explaining that the regulations say, the No 10 spokesperson quoted approvingly what Phillipson said in an interview this morning. (See 10.28pm.) Phillipson said that the government does not routinely “police toilets”, that firms like pubs should decide their policy and that they should ensure that “there is a safe and appropriate place for all people to use”.
But the fact that the regulations are in force means that in some respects the government does “police toilets”.
Phillipson is likely to be asked about this when she makes her statement to MPs. It should start around 5.20pm.
During justice questions in the Commons, Nic Dakin, a justice minister, told MPs that the Ministry of Justice is “reviewing all areas that could be potentially impacted on” by last week’s ruling from the supreme court on equality law.
Lib Dems say IMF report shows need for ‘urgent rethink’ in UK economic policy
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said that today’s IMF report (see 1.01pm) downgrading its growth forecasts for the UK (and the rest of the world) shows the need for an “urgent rethink” in British economic policy. In a statement, Davey said:
Donald Trump’s damaging trade war has taken a wrecking ball to the global economy, with the UK set to be badly hit.
The government needs to be working to boost trade with our allies in Europe and the Commonwealth and tackle Trump’s tariffs head on.
Simply sitting back and hoping we won’t be impacted hasn’t worked. It’s time for an urgent rethink before it’s too late.
In their statement, the Conservatives claimed that the IMF growth downgrade was an indictment of Keir Starmer’s policies. Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said:
The latest IMF outlook is a worrying indictment of Labour’s economic approach. Less than a year into their government, Britain is already seeing the consequences of Labour’s high-tax, high-spend agenda.
Roz McCall, a Scottish Conservative MSP, has written to the presiding officer of the Scottish parliament, suggesting that discplinary action should be taken against the Scottish Green MP Maggie Chapman over his comments about the supreme court. (See 12.51pm.) McCall says:
This afternoon, I have formally written to @POScotParl regarding the conduct of Maggie Chapman MSP following her comments concerning the verdict of the Supreme Court on the matter of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers (2024) UKSC 16.
MSPs have responsibilities under the Code of Conduct and a legal duty under the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008. We should always act to protect the independence of the judiciary and these comments threatened the integrity of our judges. It cannot be allowed to stand.
