Labour shelves plans to make gender change easier

How the hell will this get sorted if it's still referred to as conversion therapy? Stonewall have created an almighty mess with their obfuscating language. They should be shut down and taken to court. Dr Az had 24 years treating gender dysphoric people, only a few went on to have surgery/ take hormones. Yes they were converted but to call successful psychotherapy conversion therapy (with its associations) is criminal. Az's experience should be the model for the government, not the types of institutions that conveniently don't have data or follow up plans in place for patients.

Labour have a major problem with slowing down the labour market so markedly

Car crash in slow motion as described this morning, but getting worse

Plus trafficking issue

Going up against public sentiment on this won't wash. Thanks to those who keep pushing on here

It's not keeping men out of CR as pledged though

It's a sign of the times that a political campaign that works leaves campaigners as unhappy as ever.

Politics seems to be about people's grievances now rather than getting meaningful change.

Women are still not at the foremost of Starmer’s mind though. Just his ratings.

Whether deliberately or by some happenstance Reform wont get all the opportunities it though it would to beat Labour.

https://news.sky.com/story/local-elections-for-millions-postponed-as-nigel-farage-hits-out-at-government-13303622

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/jim-mcmahon-england-government-nigel-farage-conservative-b2694284.html

Labour Women’s Declaration have responded to the article:

LabourWomen’sDeclaration
If this is true, we applaud this policy shift. It's the right thing to do, as well as being politically sensible. As we explained in para 5 of our critique of
@UKLabour's manifesto - https://labourwomensdeclaration.org.uk/lwd-responds-to-the-2024-labour-party-manifesto… - the GRA reform plans were unwise & unevidenced
"Streeting said..that the NHS must get “back to basics” rather than focusing on “daft nonsense”. In this light, we hope gov't will also rethink its unworkable & contradictory plans for a Conversion Practices Ban, see para 4 of our manifesto critique.

An interesting question is who are the sources for this article? I suspect we are seeing fall out from internal positioning inside the cabinet and other manoeuvring inside Labour. Streeting clearly is marketing himself as a gender realist of some kind. This article enhances his position as well as that of the declared supporters of LWD who are on the front bench i.e

Shabana Mahmood MP, Birmingham Ladywood, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Dame Diana Johnson, MP Hull North & Cottingham, Minister of State (Home Office) - (Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention).
Feryal Clark, MP, Enfield North. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology - AI and Digital Government
Jess Phillips MP for Birmingham Yardley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office) - (Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls).

However I think this probably comes from the right leaning sources inside the party. Note the most outspoken suporters of TA stuff are now mostly left leaning MPs. The article could be an attempt to use gender debates to further margnalize the left by making their position seem isolated and also try to trick them into doing something daft like attacking Streeting's position directly. Nadia Whitcombe for example might be triggered into doing something. Rayner was a prominent TA and this issue might undermine her too. So while avoiding the threat from Reform will be part of it internal politics also plays its part. Also there may be the possibility of making SNP, Greens and Lib Dems look bad.

Also bear in mind this debate is urgent. Local elections are months away. The Welsh and Scottish elections in 2026 may have a gender element as Reform/Tories certainly will be looking to raise the issue if they can.

Me too. Delighted its come.😃🙌

Let's not forget that Labour have never had a permanent woman leader, yet the Tories have now managed to have four. Even if the last two were and are totally useless.

Maybe. They’re happy to brief that they don’t want to offend Trump, but don’t care about offending 51% of the voters.

It’s what working class people want.

It's what a lot of people want. It's not a class or a left - right issue.

I suspect that men on the whole are less bothered than women because it's not their changing rooms that trans identifying males barge into, and it's not their sports that TIMs steal prizes from.

It's done to try to secure popularity and future votes, but it highlights that they are aware of the public strength of feeling. Kier jumps on bandwagons, so he is sliding off the "be kind" one to the "back to reality" one.

Ask yourselves Labour, why is looking after women’s rights, safety, sports and single sex spaces so popular? Could it be your opponents have a point here?

If this is true I’m glad to hear it, but it disgusts me that the change in policy is apparently to toady up to Trump and spike Reform’s guns, rather than out of any care for women and girls. FU Keir Starmer.

Good.

What a chilling pair of paragraphs...

Although a bit of a thread derail, the point it Labour didn't win the election. The Tories lost the election. Starmer got into power on fewer votes than each of the times Corbyn stood at a GE.

So what is more important is what happens in both the Tory and Reform Party - or they reach an agreement to each stand at the next GE, but agree to form a coalition and so easily out strip any votes that Labour might get.

Also a story floated by the media so probably has as much truth as the article this thread is meant to be about!

Saw this coming a mile off.

Good stuff.👍

Labour will get shot by both sides if they bring in these reforms as TRAs regard them as a sell out as it is not true self id.

There is no way they will spend all that effort on reforms that will please no one.

I may have overestimated the extent to which this issue impacted the UK election but, if anything, I underestimated how much it would impact the US election...

Yes, I was certain that Labour were going to win the 2024 election. But I always believed it would just be for one term. I believe that even more strongly now. However, I have changed my prediction about who will actually win the next election.

But they can't do that, cos it'd be a gift for Farage!

(other motives are also available)

They need to repeal the GRA. They need to stop letting men into women’s changing rooms and sport. It’s what working class people want.

As for predicting what would happen it was clear Labour's policies would drive support for Reform

That is happening already. If anyone looks at the polls since the GE