Bridget Phillipson delivers Commons statement on Supreme Court's gender ruling

[IwantToRetire]

Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, is speaking to MPs about the 'For Women Scotland' Supreme Court ruling providing 'clarity' on the legal definition of a woman
https://news.sky.com/video/bridget-phillipson-delivers-commons-statement-on-supreme-courts-gender-ruling-13353841

Have not had time to listen and not sure if it is every thing she said.
Think this is the Parliament TV link https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/8649ad2d-00b8-485d-ab0a-ce3be0799678

I hope it include Kemi Badenoch's reply as she didn't hold back!

This made me laugh so hard during PM. Full on tanks on the law(n) stuff

I always thought Starmer and his chosen cabinet would jump on the SC judgement, but this degree of 'What did you let Maria Miller DO?' still absolutely tickled me.

I didn't agree with the PPs though. I thought Badenoch sounded rather depressed, and understandably when there is so little else for the Tories to take into the locals.

I wouldn't wonder if we see another Tory leadership election before the autumn. Maybe this time they'll go for Oliver Dowden or someone. Really go for the giving it up altogether after 320 years vote.

Some MPs are going full on 'Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia,' aren't they? Fascinating to watch it in real time.

Not sure if this is everything she said, but thought she got in many, many good points.

And particularly how Labour had been fully engaged in trying to erase sex as a biological fact.

Kemi has definitely been reading these boards over the weekend.

The Guardian comments are depressing. The usual sneering and piss taking. Who gives a shit about women eh? Certainly not the Guardian reader woke bros.

I watched all of the speech and debate. I actually thought that Phillipson did very well.
I thought Badenoch couldn't justify that her Government hadn't done enough in 14 years.
There were better responses from other MPs.
I was saddened that some male and female MPs didn't realise that many woman feel unsafe.

I don’t honestly care that much about who said what previously as long as they sincerely commit to getting it right now. Although I hope some of them are cringing in private.

I missed the debate as I was working but saw the clip of Kemi earlier and thought she was excellent.

I'm not a Tory but admire her stance on this. Theresa May was bloody awful when she was PM but Kemi has always stood up for women and girls. While in government, she said in Parliament that Stonewall Law was not the actual law - which is exactly what the Supreme Court judgement said.

I was very frustrated when Rishi Sunak called the general election because there had been consultation about the PSHE guidance for schools (I'm sure that Kemi must have been instrumental in that) and we were due to have had some decent, clear guidance but that never happened.

@IwantToRetire Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi asked if the charities Stonewall and Mermaids will be held to account for the “damage” they have caused, and said she had witnessed a “lobby” push MPs into asserting that trans women are women.

Stonewall and Mermaids have been extremely quiet. TRAs, including Maggie, are saying the Supreme Court didn’t talk to any trans people/organisations so the process was flawed. I recall thinking Stonewall were actually notable by their absence - they could have submitted evidence like LGBA, Sex Matters etc.

Thanks for highlighting those comments.
I’m fairly appalled.
I thought the readers were supposed to be liberals. Apparently not. Glad I have cancelled my subscription. I find myself - baffled - subscribed to The Telegraph. It will take a while to process all of this “we have always been at war with Eastasia business won’t it?

I listened today to an interview with Germaine Greer from a few years ago. She said all men should have a T Shirt with “What About Me?” on it. Maybe even 2 months ago I wouldn’t have understood but suddenly I can’t un see it.

Odd

Well that was a depressing watch... far too many MPs posturing about the number of trans/NB constituents who were concerned/anxious/feeling unsafe.... and far too little about its impact on women and the difference it will make to them!

Text from Hansard:

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-04-22/debates/31A6C620-BC92-41EE-B375-E37E84B45DA7/%E2%80%9CForWomenScotland%E2%80%9DSupremeCourtRuling

Kemi Badenoch was prepared to serve in a government led by a man who was allegedly wanting to give a knighthood to a man who assaulted his own mother. A man who did not want to acknowledge all his own children. A man who cut police numbers whilst London Mayor, which must have made it more difficult for those who assault women to come to justice.

The Tories over 14 years could have acted so that last week's court judgment would never have been needed. Starting with actually engaging with the SNP led Scottish government years ago.

Labour have been lacking in supporting women, and have made a U turn, though nowhere near as bad as the lack of support from Tories over 14 years.

All that may be true but Kemi can’t be held accountable for the actions of her male colleagues. We can only judge her on her own deeds and words - we don’t ever ask the male politicians to take on the sins of others. [lecture over🤣]

My husband said today, yes just keep fussing over a miniscule minority of the population and ignoring 50% of the population.

[pedant mode on]
51%
[pedant mode off]
😊

I didn’t know BP had been involved in refuges. It makes her cowardice before now even worse.

Yes, I was quite shocked by her opening statement. It was the combination of that background working with refuges and the blatant lies she told about Labour’s record on women’s rights.

Yes, but also Jess Phillips who has sort of made her name as being someone directly involved in women's refuges etc., has always been very low key about women's sex based rights.

Admittedly in line with the Labour agree position that TWAW and biological women are okay because very kindly Labour created the SSE.

I've seen a handful of MPs say that niche lobby groups had far too much influence over politicians. I'm sorry but if a lobby group can get you to say that men can grow cervixes and women should be locked up with rapists then you are either too stupid or, more likely, too unprincipled to be an MP.

These politicians are Tony Benn's weathervanes and will sell women out again if another misogynistic movement becomes fashionable.

I cant believe anyone ist still coming out with this sort of nonsense of which there was a lot during the GE.

KB for whatever reason joined the Tory Party and got elected as an MP.

The Tory Party selects who their PM will be.

And to carefully select out a few points about one PM is just plain silly.

The point is, like it or not, unlike Labour who did absolutely nothing to reverse the whole self ID activism coming from Stonewall, she made very strong moves to reverse the damage this was doing.

And had there not been a snap election may have completed the work she started on re-wording the EA eg sex = biology.

And working with the EHRC started challenging organisations that were acting as though self id was a legal fact.

As a result of this (although the snap election stopped KB) the Labour Government was forced to carry on with getting the EHRC to clarify the guidelines on the SSE.

The result of which was that the EHRC said it was impossible to write clear guidelines and that the GRA/GRC should be disapplied to the EA.

This is huge. In fact more of a reversal on the trans narrative than the Supreme Court ruling.

At this point in time the Government has still not formally replied to these recommendations (after all for Labour it is their crowning glory).

So if any of us want real change we should be lobbying the Labour Government to reply to the EHRC which is the organisation delegated to make sure equality law is properly implemented.

To not understand that Government isn't about just (a bit like Trump) saying we will just do this, but is part of a process.

So whatever their politics both Kemi Badenoch and Baronsess Falkner as women in high level positions have done far more than any one else to challenge the deliberate attempt by Labour when they made gender recognition a protected characteristic, to undermine women as a sex class.

I watched some of it and thought BP did rather well. I liked the part when she referenced the women of the 1970s who fought for equality.
Was Jess Phillips there? I didn't see her.

I think, to secure and establish single sex provision, there is a need to ‘play the ball, not the man’.

Until the EHRC produces clear guidance and public sector organisations and unions have their feet held to the fire in relation to single sex provision, focusing on who said whatever ridiculous (and damaging) nonsense isn’t productive. The only hope TRAs have of retaining their ill gotten gains is to stoke anger and promote instability. What is needed is a calm and consistent insistence on correcting incorrect policy and practice and inviting trans people and trans advocacy groups to engage with policy makers to work out ways forward for trans people who don’t want to avail themselves of single sex provision that matches their sex.

All the heat plays into the TRA’s hands

Until the EHRC produces clear guidance

AS I've just posted the EHRC has said it is impossible to produce clear guidelines because of the impact of the GRA/GRC on sex equality.

And the the Government should "disapply them".

ie they want to go further than the Court.

We shouldn't let Labour off the hook in terms of this process.

In fact I bet Labour are grateful everyone is focusing on the Court Judgement, not on the much more challening statement by THE group set up to provide guidelines on equality saying your law is discriminatory.

I watched and I just feel rage.
How dare BP say that this has been Labour's position all along. Does she think we're stupid?
Doesn't she know that everyone following this is well aware that she said the opposite recently?
Why can't she just say 'sorry, we fucked up'?