Talk about a turn-up for the books. In an unusual breach with convention, it was Kemi Badenoch rising for HM Loyal Opposition this afternoon to respond to Bridget Phillipson’s statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling last week. But the Tory leader – whose conviction on same-sex spaces has been applauded by JK Rowling among others – certainly made it a moment to remember as she tore into the government for its cowardice on this issue. Badenoch said:
I could not believe my eyes or my ears this afternoon. In 2021 the prime minister said it is not right to say only women have a cervix. In 2022 he said it is the law that trans women are women. In 2023 he said, and I quote, “99% of women don’t have a penis”. I know what a woman is, and I always have the people of this country know what a woman is. We didn’t need the supreme court to tell us that, but this government did – a Labour government so desperate to jump on a bandwagon that they abandoned common sense, along with the SNP, who put rapists in women’s prisons, and, of course, the Liberal Democrats.
Ouch. The Essex MP pointed out the Tories repeatedly faced ‘hostility from activist groups’ for standing up for women, with Labour ministers quick to attack them as bigots. She pointed out that some, like Foreign Secretary David Lammy, had described opponents of gender self-ID as dinosaurs, while others, like Phillipson, were now pleading wisdom in retrospect. Badenoch told the House:
Labour now says that they knew what a woman is and the transgender should use services and facilities designated to their biological sex. They’ve never said this before. This is a U-turn, but we welcome it. Now that we have legal clarity.
Game, set, and match to Kemi. You can watch the exchange below:
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