Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has finally decided on transgender people competing in sports, admitting he believes biological males should not be able to play against women.
After years of dithering on the subject, in an apparent attempt to keep his far-left progressive base on board while not alienating the wider public, Sir Keir said that ultimately “common sense must prevail”.
“I think the important thing is that the sports governing bodies take a lead on this,” he told Telegraph Sport.
“And they are doing that, and we’re supportive of what they’re doing, particularly in elite sport. So, that’s where the decision should be taken. They’ve taken a number of decisions.
“And, in the end, common sense has to prevail in terms of safety and integrity of sport.”
The comments from Starmer come nearly two years after he refused to answer whether transgender swimmer Lia Thomas should be able to compete against female swimmers at the Olympics.
The Labour Party leader also drew criticism for seemingly being stumped by the simple question of whether or not women can have penises.
“No no no it’s just– ” he said in 2022. “No no no, I just– I don’t– I don’t think that um, discussing this issue in this way helps anyone in the long run.”
The following year, Starmer admitted that a woman is an “adult female”, while saying that he believed systems based on so-called self-identification were not the “right way forward”.
His newfound position — which comes as the country is preparing for a likely general election — puts Starmer broadly on the same page as the Conservative government, who have called on British sports governing bodies to prohibit biological males from competing in female sports.
So far, the British governing bodies for athletics, cycling, and swimming have all announced prohibitions on biological males competing in female sports, however, the governing bodies for football and cricket have yet to do so.
Former British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davis told GB News: “I have to say, it’s good news to hear what Kier has to say today.”
However, Davis said that she is not “holding her breath” given that Starmer has a history of flip-flops, adding: “First and foremost he needs to be able to identify what a woman is you know we can’t protect women if we can’t define them.”
“It doesn’t matter what hormones you take how much testosterone you suppress, what surgery you take, you will still be male or female… that’s biological,” Davis declared.
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