James Murray on R4 just now - TWANW

[FlossieF]

New health secretary asked if he thinks TWAW- said he has changed his mind about this (as per Wes S) and supports single sex spaces on the basis of biological sex. As well he should, but still good to hear.

Yep

I understand that Trans people are really worried about being "outed" in the same way that gay people were because it would materially affect their ability to participate in life.

how could it possibly materially affect someone ability to participate in life if people knew they were trans-identifying?

This is repeated time and time again and it makes even less sense than TWAW.

He didn't believe it when he said men were women, and he doesn't care now when he says they're not. It's just political expediency.

The one thing this issue has done for me, and many people, is ruin any vestige of faith I might have had in politicians.

Ninety nine percent are complete strangers to integrity.

All you can hope for now is that the writing on the wall is so crystal clear to him, that he gets off his arse and does something about it.

And that's because of women like FWS and Sex Matters, fuck all to do with him.

I think the logic is they'll be forced into the men's toilets and everyone will suddenly have an epiphany and go oh my God you're a man I thought you were a feminine woman.

When a) in reality passing is absolutely impossible for 99.9% of these men. And let's face it, if they do, who's gonna know??

And b) gender neutral toilet are now two a penny. No outing necessary.

For posterity - Telegraph article recounting the R4 interview.

https://archive.ph/jfMFG

BBC have clipped segment that is another win.

https://x.com/BBCr4today/status/2061372258560487643

Telegraph article just arrived

Health Secretary: I changed my mind – trans women are not women
James Murray says he accepts difference between sex and gender and that single-sex spaces should be protected

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/06/01/james-murray-i-changed-my-mind-trans-women-not-women/

https://archive.is/jfMFG

Note by saying celebrate the win I am not saying we should trust people like Murray or Burnham who was also forced to tell the truth recently. We watch them like hawks. We have to celebrate our victories though.

The TAs were winning by FORCING people to lie and they celebrated when they did it. Remember them agonizing whether people believed it or not? No they accepted it might be performative, and celebrated they had the power to force some people to lie. They went insane when women told the truth.

We on the other hand are making people tell the truth when they would rather not. It is AMAZING we have the power to do that. Lets not be modest about it. We just need a LOT more wins. It only happened because of a bunch of heroes and Mumsnet played its role.

Remember Sir Ed Davey right now shows what it would be like if lying was still the main option :
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5536296-ed-davey-says-the-ehrc-code-has-failed-in-its-objective-and-calls-for-post-legislative-scrutiny-of-the-gra-ea-presumably-to-legally-allow-blokes-in-the-ladies?

IMPORTANT - Also the Lib Dems may force a debate/vote on the guidance in the next 40 days [they also might do nothing but whine]. If they do get a vote the votes of MPs like Murray will count. We need every vote on our side, on the side of reality. His position shows Labour are not going to vote the guidance down.

Actually having a majority in Parliament is the most important protection we can have.

Thanks @singthing

From the Telegraph: In 2022, Mr Murray, who was then a shadow Treasury minister, was repeatedly asked to define what a woman was. He replied: “I believe that trans women are women.”

😂

I have been looking at body language of a lot of people talking lately. This clip is fascinating.

He starts off quite normally, looking to the left (normal when you are remembering facts and thinking); but in the second half, starts blinking like a morse coder on acid (a sign of stress and/or deception).

So yes he has said it now and the TRAs will never forget it, but he doesn't mean it. Or if he does mean it, he knows full well the shitstorm he's unleased and is crapping himself.

We know from the ongoing opinion polls that the population are increasingly changing their minds in a GC direction. Why wouldn't this include politicians? They (politicians and general public) were coming from a perspective that organisations they trusted were manipulating them to not even listen properly to the arguments. For the general population, and I don't see why not for politicians too, when people start thinking properly about the questions, it all falls out. There's a whole "peaking" trope for the process.

Am I a hopeless optimist? The population in the opinion polls aren't lying for political advantage.

THIS!!

I need a TRA to arrive and explain to me. But there’s never one about when you need one.

Shall I spin around three times widdershins and snap my fingers?

It is good if he has decided to admit the truth, and not to lie. Made easier to do because of the truly brave and decent people who stood up to battle for the rights of women and children whilst many/most went along with the lie because it was fashionable.

I always enjoyed when it was Justin Webb on the Today show. I was relieved when he stood his ground, and wouldn’t go along with the lie.

He's a bloke. He probably thinks women are making a big fuss about nothing and men should always get what they want, but he is doing whatever he thinks is expedient for his career. I wouldn't be surprised if Labour are trying to find ways to differentiate themselves from the Lib Dems and Greens and that they have decided that this is one of the ways to do that, at minimum risk to themselves since all polling shows the public are GC and the TRAs will never be satisfied with whatever you give them anyway.

The main thing I am interested in, at this point, is what will he do about the pb trial.

No, you’re bang on. People are thinking the matter through. That doesn’t mean we’ve defeated misogyny (I wish!) but this particular line of attack is running out of steam.

The most important lesson for me from all this has been how easily people were deterred from thinking by hooking TWAW to homophobia and reactionary politics. It’s reminded me that piggybacking on other issues is a pretty standard aspect of misogyny, because a proportion of women can be counted in to budge up/self-sacrifice for the “greater good.” See also: “don’t have a job or expect equal pay for your work, think of all the children who need mothering and men who need looking after.”

The pendulum always swings, but the pressure on women never does.

Great point... must remembering the "piggybacking" (just filing a note in my head for a different thread).. Thanks!

Well done to Justin Webb for continuing to ask the question. What an ally he is.

I do hope he gets the chance to ask Andy Burnham the same thing.

Incidentally, does anyone know if BBC Woman's Hour and the lovely Nuala had anything to say about this?

Please don't!

I didn’t hear anything but, apart from the Gisèle Pelicot item, I only half listened

I glad to hear him say it, my trust in politicians is not existent at this point, so I'm not going to fall over myself to prise him for stating the bloody obvious, but I'll give him points for saying it out loud.

Hopefully this means he's not going to reverse the ban on puberty blockers, but unless he manages to clear this GI claptrap from the health service, it's just all talk.
We'll be watching matey. 👀

Mail and ITV now covering it. Great point from Seen in Journalism. The Health Sec only got confronted because people kept the receipts. Keep asking questions. Record what they say. It is important.

SEEN in Journalism
@JournalismSEEN
Don’t forget this question was asked today because of the long memories and receipts held by accounts on X who have assiduously documented politicians’ words on the issue, and raised the alarm within the hour
Quote
Daily Mail
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15864151/Labours-new-Health-Secretary-reverses-past-claim-trans-women-women-vows-protect-single-sex-spaces-NHS.html?

https://www.itv.com/news/london/2026-06-01/health-secretary-i-would-no-longer-say-trans-women-are-women

So, they used to be women in 2022, but they are not women now? What happened? He "thought about it" a lot. So, he didn't think about it at all before?

Oh, not a good look, James. Not a good look at all.

Did he explain why he changed his mind on this matter?

This is what I mean. Claiming even once that transwomen are women just fucks anyone's credibility irreparably.

I find it shocking that anyone, least of all a politician could ever have done it.

Thinking with their "career prospects" not their brains. Gets you every time!