Wes Streeting backs the Darlington nurses

[Zahariel]

https://x.com/CConcern/status/1850476023986401648

”BREAKING: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, has this week met with the Darlington nurses and said he is committed to the belief that sex is biological being reflected in the day-to-day running of the NHS under his watch. The nurses, who are being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, also handed in a CitizenGo petition signed by 48,000 people to Number 10 Downing Street calling for the government to do whatever is necessary to ensure women have access to single-sex changing rooms and toilets. The meeting followed a statement Mr Streeting made in the lead up to the General Election in June when he said on X/Twitter that he was ‘horrified’ by their case and wanted to meet. Mr Streeting gave the response after the nurses launched legal action against County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust over being forced to share a changing room with a man identifying as a woman. Darlington nurse, and President of the DNU, Bethany Hutchison, said: “We were nervous going into the meeting, but he put us at ease, gave us time and listened, which was encouraging. We now, however, need to see firm action from Wes and a clear consensus from the government and the NHS on these issues. “Sadly, we continue to be treated appallingly by the Trust. The policy they have in place is putting women at risk and is open to abuse and should be changed urgently. We have been shocked, however, to find that the ‘rights’ of a man identifying as a woman continue to be supported and promoted, while ours as women have been ignored and even pushed out. “We are not doing this just for nurses. We are doing this for women across the country, for example those who are working in the police force, but also for sisters, daughters and mothers everywhere.”

Do you think he knows how entrenched this is in the NHS, or is he in for a surprise?

Blimey!

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Wes Streeting?"

I hope that

• this is confirmed from other sources in addition to Christian Legal Centre
• Streeting understands how deeply this ideology is integrated into the NHS and the unions that are within it.

Not sure if this Times article is based on the info in OP but seems to come from the nurses themselves.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/streeting-told-us-sex-is-biological-say-nurses-in-changing-room-row-ss65l8w5d

Wes Streeting said “something has gone wrong in our society” as he met NHS nurses fighting to keep biological males out of a women’s changing room in their hospital.

The health secretary confirmed his belief that sex is biological, according to the “Darlington Five” nurses, who handed in a 48,000-name petition at No 10.

Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy, Tracey Hooper and Joanne Bradbury are suing the NHS trust for allowing a colleague who was born male to use the female changing room at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Streeting met the women and a sixth nurse who claimed she had panic attacks after being confronted by the male, who goes by the name Rose.

According to the nurses, Streeting told them the issue of why single-sex spaces were important to women had not been “taken seriously enough” and that “we have created an unnecessary conflict”.
He replied “yeah” when one of the women asked: “Do you recognise that sex is a protected characteristic and that sex is biological? We would like you to commit to and reflect that in the day to day running of the NHS?”

At the end of the 45-minute meeting, Streeting said that the nurses had given him <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.is/o/KKFhh/www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/jk-rowling-attacks-labours-indifference-to-women-in-trans-row-mfvngqblv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a lot to think about. “We’ve got to deal with this,” he said.

Full article at https://archive.is/KKFhh

I thought the same. 😆

Don't forget that he's still a politician. Says one thing one day, the opposite thing another day, and just hopes he gets his end away at the end of the day.

Bloody hell, fantastic news, let’s hope the rest of the NHS is taking note.

I think he is sending very clear signals here. Wes is an ambitious bugger and good communicator. The fact he is willing to stand up and say this and be photographed with the nurses distinguishes him from Starmer and the the majority of Labour MPs who stand around shuffling their feet and muttering rhubarb rhubarb when discussing this issue. Let's hope he brings in clear rules for NHS changing facilities and intimate spaces so staff and patients don't have to suffer indignity. NHS pissing money against the wall on legal fees whilst the service is on its knees is intolerable and Wes is a good judge of the optics.

Labour need to get biological sex written into law then and go about ensuring the health service, judiciary, civil service etc all understand this and it's documented clearly.

Streeting did a reverse thought process. He was fully TWAW until he understood the impact on gay men of trans rights activism. A convert might turn out to be a good friend. He's certainly not intimidated. Wes can't back gay rights on this subject without including women.

Sex in law will need to be confirmed because many of our public services have used ambiguity to diminish the right to single sex spaces.

This is good news. I hope it gives some comfort as well to the nurse in Fife fighting the same battle.

Being fair to Streeting, he's been very open that while he was once twaw, he's reconsidered, realised he was wrong and apologised to Rosie Duffield and others.

He's one of the very few Labour front benchers I've much time for.

This is interesting- is this your own causal reasoning or have you heard him say anything to show that's how he got there? I think gay men and women feeling able to question TWAW is where this ideology will really crumble.

Ah sounds like he has been upfront about what changed his mind? I'll have a Google!

Try this for starters: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/28/wes-streeting-apologises-to-labour-mp-rosie-duffield-who-felt-ostracised-due-to-gender-views

This feels like very good news.

I think it's also fortunate that this case is so clear-cut. The "trans woman" in question hasn't had surgery, doesn't have a GRC, wants to get "her" girlfriend pregnant and wanders around the changing room in "her" boxers. I doubt that this person is going to attract much public sympathy, whereas on the whole people like nurses and almost certainly support their right to a female-only changing room.

Thanks- I read that and really liked what he said. 'Listen to women' seems pretty bloody radical as a statement at the moment.
But didn't seem linked to him worrying about the impact on gay men specifically- has he said anything about that?

Edit: to be clear, I'm referring to the reason given in @highame 's post.

Very good news.

I'm really pleased to see this and especially that Wes Streeting posed for a photo with the nurses - a picture paints a thousand words etc. Now post it on your Twix page please Wes....

Do nurses really accept the lie that men who've had surgery are suddenly acceptable in girls and women's spaces? I suspect that it's the same levels of "be kind" gaslighting that's happening in the rest of society with these men and their allies being close to the levers of power / influence and able trash women's careers and reputations at will.

Once the coercion and fear is removed, I suspect the majority of women would happily advocate for 3rd spaces - especially when the forbidden discussions about what AGP is actually happen.

It's astonishing how this has been allowed to happen.

A man who goes into a women's changing room and exposes himself and watches the women in there can expect to be thrown out and he's lucky if he's not charged with indecent exposure and/or voyeurism.

If the man says he 'feels like a woman' suddenly it's all OK and it's the women who are at fault because they're transphobic bigots.

The only difference between the two men is that one claims to 'feel like a woman' and the other doesn't.

What is surprising isn't that people like Wes Streeting change their minds when they see what's going on, but that people like the NHS trust involved here think there is some fundamental difference between a man who claims to 'feel like a woman' and one who doesn't (but they can never explain what that difference is).

A politician who can change their mind and talk about it proudly is the sort of politician this country really needs

Tell him how much we appreciate this, twitter, emails, anywhere

Happy Monday, Mr Streeting.

That's great to hear.

I still don't trust him further than I can throw him, but I will happily accept his support for women whether its based on morals or expediency.

Tell him how much we appreciate this, twitter, emails, anywhere

Good point. It's been a while since I got out the Thank You cards.

https://members.parliament.uk/member/4504/contact

Do nurses really accept the lie that men who've had surgery are suddenly acceptable in girls and women's spaces?

I don't know - probably not. But I think we all know that a man who has had surgery is more likely to attract sympathy, on the basis that he "genuinely" believes himself to be female than one who prances around in his boxers boasting about getting his girlfriend pregnant. As OldCrone says, you would normally expect someone who does that to be prosecuted for voyeurism or indecent exposure. Instead, we're in a mad situation where the man is being defended and the women treated as bigots.

I have no idea what goes on in the tiny minds of the people running the NHS trust, I really don't. Let's hope it goes all the way to tribunal so we can hear their arguments in public. Expect the presence of a support wren.