Labour strategists warn Starmer must rule out gender self-ID

‘If you can’t say what a woman is, you will lose the election’: Labour strategists warn Keir Starmer he must rule out bringing in gender self-ID or face an SNP-style meltdown

• Labour strategists tell Keir Starmer he must make clear ‘self-ID is not happening’
• He has hinted at a changed stance in his approach after the SNP’s meltdown

Sir Keir Starmer is being warned he must rule out the introduction of gender self-identification or risk losing the next general election.

The Labour leader this week hinted at a changed stance in his approach to the issue following the fierce row over the SNP’s gender identity reforms.

He stressed a need for public support before a change to transgender laws and suggested there should be a ‘reset of the situation’ in Scotland.

Sir Keir is reportedly being urged from within Labour ranks to make his position ‘clearer’ after he previously committed to introducing self-ID for trans people.

According to The Times, party strategists have told him that he must make clear ‘self-ID is not going to happen’ or he will lose the election ‘on day one’.

Sir Keir Starmer this week hinted at a changed stance in his approach to self-ID in the wake of controversy over the SNP’s gender reforms

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation last month following the bitter row about her Gender Recognition Reform Bill

A senior Labour source told the newspaper: ‘If Keir is still being asked by the time the election campaign begins what a woman is, 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.’

At a speech in Stoke-on-Trent yesterday, Sir Keir appeared to shift his position on gender self-ID in the wake of Scotland’s controversial reforms.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation last month following the bitter row over the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill.

The issue has caused deep splits in her party, with two of the candidates to be her successor – Kate Forbes and Ash Regan – refusing to publicly back the legislation.

Sir Keir said: ‘I think 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.’

It came after the Labour leader had also used an interview with the Daily Express to state the ‘primary lesson’ from Scotland was that ‘changes which don’t carry public confidence are almost certainly not the right changes’.

Sir Keir’s comments yesterday sparked an internal party row with the Labour For Trans Rights campaign group urging supporters to email MPs to express their concerns

In 2021, Sir Keir used a video marking Pride to say Labour was ‘committed to updating the GRA to introduce self-declaration for trans people’

But Sir Keir’s comments sparked an internal party row with the Labour For Trans Rights campaign group urging supporters to email MPs to express their concerns.

They also called for the Labour leader to stick to his past commitments on reforming the Gender Recognition Act.

‘Trans rights are not a political football,’ they said in a statement.

‘The trans community has been screaming out for Gender Recognition Act reform for years.

‘Labour in government must deliver for LGBTQ+ people, just as it has for decades – we cannot deviate from being the party of progress and equality.

‘We will continue to work constructively with allies across our movement to build a Labour Part that is properly trans-inclusive.

‘Our offer to speak with Keir Starmer on why self-ID is so important still stands.’

In 2021, Sir Keir used a video marking Pride to say Labour was ‘committed to updating the GRA to introduce self-declaration for trans people’.

He has also previously said it is ‘not right’ to say only women have a cervix.

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