A brief history of Sir Keir Starmer’s trans flip-flopping

Where public opinion goes, Sir Keir follows. Tony Benn used to divide politicians into two categories: the Signposts and the Weathercocks, with the Labour leader falling decidedly into the latter group. As public attitudes on women-only spaces and elite sport have hardened in recent years, the Leader of the Opposition has slowly, painfully followed suit, often to the chagrin of Labour’s LGBT+ factions. Below is a timeline of Sir Keir’s shifting stance over the past three years of his leadership…

November 2020 – Five months after being elected leader, Starmer posts on Facebook that ‘Trans rights are human rights, and your fight is our fight too. The Labour Party stands proudly with the trans community.’ At this stage, his stance on trans rights is taken to be the same as that which the party had under Jeremy Corbyn. That was articulated in the party’s 2019 manifesto: ‘Labour is committed to reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to introduce self-declaration for transgender people.’

June 2021 – Following the disastrous result of the Hartlepool by-election, Starmer struggles to assert his authority on the party. He records a video message for PinkNews‘ Pride for All celebrations in which he confirms his commitment to self-ID : ‘Trans people are one of the most discriminated groups in our society. Labour knows how much work there is to do… We’re committed to updating the GRA [Gender Recognition Act] to introduce self-declaration for trans people.’

September 2021 – Sir Keir slaps down Rosie Duffield for saying that only women have a cervix. Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury, stayed away from the party’s annual conference after receiving online threats. Starmer is asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show whether it is transphobic to say that only women have a cervix. He replies ‘It is something that shouldn’t be said. It’s not right.’

Separately, Sir Keir’s team briefs the media that trans women can be excluded from some ‘women-only’ spaces. A spokesman adds that the party has not changed from their manifesto position and said he had ‘no reason’ to expect it would change: ‘Labour would work to update the gender recognition act to enable the process for gender self identification and we also continue to support the implementation of the equality act, including the single sex exemption.’

March 2022 – Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari during a phone-in, Sir Keir is asked multiple times whether or not ‘a woman can have a penis’. He repeatedly refuses to answer, saying only that ‘I don’t think that discussing this issue in this way helps anyone in the long run. What I want to see is a reform of the law as it is, but I am also an advocate of safe spaces for women.’

He is also asked whether it is fair that transgender women are allowed to compete in women’s sports; Sir Keir responds that it is a matter ‘for the sporting bodies to decide for themselves.’

October 2022 – With Labour now comfortably ahead in the polls, Starmer does a Q&A with Mumsnet in which he says that, following the Tavistock scandal, under-18s should not transition without the consent of their parents.

January 2023 – A constitutional clash looms between the Westminster and Holyrood governments over the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which would make it easier for trans people to change gener. Starmer tells Laura Kuenssberg that he has ‘concerns about the provision in Scotland, in particular the age reduction to 16 and in particular the rejection of our amendment in relation to the Equalities Act.’

In a change of position, he says the party’s new goal is to ‘modernise the legislation to take out the indignities’ involved in transitioning. Pressed on Scottish Labour’s support for the bill, Starmer says: ‘Well that was a matter for Scottish Labour. I’m telling you what the position is in relation to the whole Labour party.’

February 2023 – Starmer ‘recommits to reforming the UK’s out of date gender recognition process’ at an LGBT+ Labour reception, according to Ben Bradshaw MP.

March 2023 – Following Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation after the debacle of the GRR Bill, Starmer signals a climbdown on Labour’s transgender stance. He tells reporters at a press conference in Stoke: ‘I think that if we reflect on what’s happened in Scotland, the lesson I take from that is that if you’re going to make reforms, you have to carry the public with you. And I think that’s a very important message, and I think that’s why it’s clear that in Scotland there should be a reset of the situation.’

Separately, Sky News reports that party strategists are warning Starmer that he will lose the general election campaign ‘on day one’ unless he shifts his position on trans rights. A ‘senior Labour source’ says that ‘If Keir is still being asked by the time the election campaign begins ‘what is a woman?’ then he’s lost on day one. Scotland is a warning to him. He needs to make his position much clearer. There are ways the gender recognition process can be improved but self-ID is not going to happen under a Labour government.’ This is despite the official Labour party Twitter account declaring that it will ‘Modernise the outdated Gender Recognition Act’ in government.

April 2023 – A week after the Sky briefing, Starmer insists that if his party wins the next election there will be no ‘rolling back’ of women’s rights.’ He tells the Sunday Times that ‘I think there is a fear that somehow there could be the rolling back of some of the things that have been won. There are still many battles that need to go ahead for women and I don’t think we should roll anything back.’

He is again asked about whether a person with a penis can be a woman. He replies that ‘For 99.9 per cent of women, it is completely biological… and of course they haven’t got a penis. Some people identify as a different gender to the one they are born with.’ The Sun writes it up with the headline: ‘Sir Keir Starmer says one in a thousand women have a penis in latest gender ID blunder.’

Appearing on LBC, he repeats his position, saying that ‘for the vast majority – let’s say 99.9 per cent – biology matters’ but insists it’s a marginal issue. He claims that ‘Almost nobody is talking about trans issues. I do sometimes just wonder why on earth we spend so much of our time discussing something which isn’t a feature of the dinner table or the kitchen table or the café table or the bar.’

If you want us to stop talking about it, maybe choose one view and stick to it Keir…