The Labour Party has planted its flag on the hill of transgenderism, promising to make it easier to legally change gender in England following a series of flip flops from leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Marking the ‘International Transgender Day of Visibility’, Britain’s left-wing opposition has vowed that if put into power they will seek to “modernise” the “outdated Gender Recognition Act [GRA] in order to allow people to change their gender with less restrictions.
“The Labour Party will always be committed to building a society where the trans community feel safe and respected,” a social media post outlined.
Laying out an plan should they win the next general election and Sir Keir Starmer becomes the next prime minister — which is currently the likely outcome according to the latest polling — the Labour Party vowed to introduce tougher punishments for hate crimes against “LGBT+” peoples as well as banning the dubiously titled “conversion therapy” in “all its forms.”
The party also said it would seek to “modernise the outdated Gender Recognition Act”. Exactly how they would do so remains a mystery, however, the target appears to be Gender Recognition Panels, which require medical and legal experts to examine the case before a person is allowed to legally change their gender and receive a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Labour MP Nadia Whittle has previously said the party has “got a policy of de-medicalising the Gender Recognition Act”. Meanwhile Starmer said in 2021 he would be in favour of just allowing anyone to self-identify with the gender of their choice rather than having to make a medical and legal case for the necessity of doing so.
Yet, Starmer hasn’t exactly been sure-footed on the issue, with the Labour leader expressing “concerns” over similar plans from former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, which would have allowed anyone — including 16-year-old children — to self-identify without receiving a medical certificate first.
The issue of transgender self-identification was widely credited with collapsing Sturgeon’s government after she was unable to say in an interview whether Adam Graham, a convicted rapist who later claimed to be a transgender woman named Isla Bryson, was in fact a woman or not amid controversy over him being housed in a female-only prison.
Commenting on the scandal earlier this month, Starmer said: “The lesson I take from that is that if you’re going to make reforms, you have to carry the public with you… I think that’s a very important message, and I think that’s why it’s clear that in Scotland there should be a reset of the situation.”
While it now appears to be a firm position now of the Labour Party to role back limitations on self-identification, some within the governing Conservative (Tory) party have predicted Starmer may well once again flip-flop before the next election.
Conservative MP Marco Longhi said per The Telegraph: “When the wind stops blowing, that’s when Starmer will be in trouble. A weather vane that doesn’t know which way to point.
“Sir Keir has self-identified as a man of principle. A man with values. But ask him what a woman is and he’ll give you a different answer each time. This is what his Labour Party is all about: zero substance and no principles. He and Sturgeon were like two peas in a pod and now that it’s all collapsed in Scotland Starmer wants to change his tune again.”
“Nobody can ever trust Starmer or Labour on anything.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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