"Let’s settle this toxic matter once and for all" JT in the Times

[Igneococcus]

Excellent as always:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/5fc9f474-d576-11ed-9f4d-c5bd4b89feab?shareToken=b0c16adc1917aed5de6fcd5358a7d428

Whether or not to add the word 'biological' before 'sex' is absolutely a trap that Labour could easily see off. I sincerely hope they come to their senses.

Wandering around Twitter, there seems to be a number of TRAs who are ex EHRC. That was probably a key target for them to take. So grateful that Kemi Badenoch has taken decisive action.

Surely this isn't right:

"So will the government take up Baroness Falkner’s advice and clarify the law? No. Tory insiders claim there isn’t a guaranteed majority since even moderate Labour MPs are too fearful of LGBT activists to uphold biological sex. Opening up the EA also risks disastrous amendments, like the insertion of “gender identity” to nullify sex. It is enough, Tories say, that Falkner’s letter will empower companies to enforce existing law."

Wouldn't this particular clarification be done by a statutory instrument? It's not about reopening the Act and adding stuff all over the place. Is it?

I'm confused by this article too, apparently the government isn't going to clarify the law but JT thinks Keir Starmer should say Labour will. If the Tories won't do it because it's too problematic why would Labour go near it ?

Also why does the government need Labour MPs to get a majority on this ?

The idea the government won't clarify runs counter to all other things that have been reported. And this from the same paper:

SNP ‘forced Tory moves on trans self-ID law’

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/6fce707c-d4b6-11ed-b5c3-54651fc826e9?shareToken=3ff415c72f478e6c90468b62a6fcd17c

"Rachael Hamilton, the party’s equalities spokeswoman, said the reforms — which accelerated the process for trans people to change gender and lowered the age threshold to 16 — were a potential danger to women.

She said: “I warned the SNP that their reckless gender recognition reforms would risk the safety of women and girls in Scotland by opening up single-sex spaces to predatory men seeking to exploit the system. The SNP ignored these legitimate concerns and railroaded this flawed legislation through parliament so I welcome these steps being taken by the UK government which will protect the rights of women and girls.”

This week Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, pledged to change the Equality Act to create a legal distinction between people born female and those who transition to become women. The move could bar trans women from accessing single-sex spaces such as women-only hospital wards and from competing against “biological” women in sports.

Kemi Badenoch, the women and equalities minister, asked the Equality and Human Rights Commission to consider the “benefits or otherwise” of changing the legal definition of sex.

She said the need had become more pressing following moves in Scotland to try to make it easier for transgender people to gain legal recognition, which the UK government claims is at odds with the UK-wide Equality Act."

Plus Kemi's own tweet praising a Times article about this issue:

twitter.com/kemibadenoch/status/1643551638760693761?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ