Wes Streeting!

Of Labour think that throwing women a bone of "biology masters sometimes" is going to cut it with feminist women then they've got another thing coming. They are trying to pull the wool over our eyes, to pretend that they understand and would never do away with our single-sex exceptions, while refusing to actually ban men from using them.

We understand the issues too well now. Obfuscation won't wash.

I hope JHB keeps pushing all politicians on this question. More sunlight needed all the time.

Also be interesting to see if Starmer says that what Wes Streeting says is something one should not say like he did with Duffield. Will Streeting be able to attend party conferences, etc.

It is great news he said it but it is still too little, too ill-defined, and too late for me to vote Labour till another generation of better informed politicians come through.

Oh yeah, it's clear that Streeting will just go whichever way the wind is blowing, but this is what gives me hope - clearly at least some people in Labour are coming to the realisation that the vast majority of people think this whole thing is batshit.

If Wes Streeting thinks that is the way the wind is blowing then there is more dissent behind the scenes or greater realisation that this is a vote loser.

Absolutely. This is what gives me hope. Every other Labour politician flunked that question but Streeting gave a clear answer. I don't think for one moment that he is gender-critical but he knows that Labour's position is a vote loser - something that Rayner and Starmer are apparently unable to intuit.

Re the wind changing - Streeting is definitely one of Tony Benn’s weather vanes

He was one of the anti-Corbyn crew. He’s all about himself.

I don't trust Streeting - not a bit. (see this from last year twitter.com/wesstreeting/status/1440664747800621063 ) but he is an ambitious man who can read the room. I am really pleased by what he said because 1) It is true, 2) it needed saying, 3)Labour needed to hear it from someone in Labour other than Rosie Duffield and Tonia Antoniazzi, 4) if Wes Streeting thinks that is the way the wind is blowing then there is more dissent behind the scenes or greater realisation that this is a vote loser.

Point 4 is key I think - it shows the wind is changing. Streeting would not say it if he did not think it was ultimately to his advantage; as others have said he seems to believe the gender ideologues' arguments on the whole. But it is great, a sign the door we're pushing at is starting to move.

Wes Streeting was already unpopular with Owen Jones and the Momentum supporters because he was always on the centrist wing of the party and was critical of Jeremy Corbyn.

He has described his experiences of homophobic bullying at school and also had a period reconciling being gay and Christian because he was worried they were not compatible. I expect this made him sympathetic to trans rights but it was not until the library monkey incident that he became more aware of the extremist side to some campaigners.

I trust him a lot more than some politicians.

You can support people’s (reasonable) civil rights without thinking it’s okay to parade weird, red-balled penis monkeys in kids’ libraries.

That's a slogan I can get behind.

I don't trust Streeting either, but it's going to bring lots of sunlight.

Neither do I but I agree; sunlight AND it opens the door for others to start being clear about biology.

Streeting hasn't yet been made accountable for his involvement with Madigan. I don't believe in golden bridges for elected politicians.

The important part is what they’d introduce if elected, will that change or is it more woolly phrases that soothe the situation

Rosie Duffield was on Peston last night, did anyone see it? I saw a bit where she was talking about partygate, but Peston said we'd hear more from her later. I wanted to watch but was totally knackered so caved in to the call of bed. It seems likely he would have asked her about gender bollocks in the light of everything that's currently going on (swimming, cycling, MPs coming out...)

Have done a very quick transcript:

"The vast majority of women share physical attributes "

"Biology does matter it is the main determinant of your gender"

"A woman has certain biological characteristics, but there are also people born in a different sex that identify as a woman and I wouldn't want to exclude them"

"Also important that same sex spaces are available in sport refuges and prisons"

I was only half listening but the statement about biology made me stop in my tracks! Will listen back.

Yes we need a clear statement on this particularly regarding women's spaces .

I thought I heard her say that there should be same sex spaces which would be quite a change

And Mishal Husain has rather surprisingly to me just asked Rachel Reeves why Labour find it so hard to define a woman at the end of an interview on the Today programme just before 8am.

Rachel was a bit flustered but she did manage to say that biology determined most people's gender but that there were people who identified as a different gender to the sex they were born in. She did get there eventually.

Anyone listening to Rachel Reeves on Today? Does seem a shift is happening 'biology does matter' and lots of usage of 'women'

You can support people’s (reasonable) civil rights without thinking it’s okay to parade weird, red-balled penis monkeys in kids’ libraries.

This is probably one of the best lines I've ever read on MN.

Predictably, Wes is being called a "right wing bigot" on the birdy hell site. People really need to start telling these overgrown toddlers to just piss off and come back when they are mature enough to have a proper conversation. Can't believe these idiots have been handed the reins when they should probably still be wearing them.

He lost his shit over the rainbow dildo butt-monkey in the library IIRC - maybe that started to open his eyes to the dark side of alphabet soup.