Starmer says he is ‘really pleased’ supreme court has given ‘much-needed clarity’ on definition of ‘woman’ in equalities law – UK politics live | Politics

Good morning. The Easter recess is over, parliament is back today, and one consequence is that ministers can no longer avoid awkward questions about the implications of last week’s supreme court ruling saying that, when the Equality Act refers to women, it just means biological women and does not include trans women, even with a gender recognition certificate.

Delivering the ruling, Lord Hodge said the decison should not be seen as a “triumph” for one side in the debate about trans rights at the expense of another. That turned out to be wishful thinking, because gender critical ferminists, and their supporters in the media, have been treating this as a decisive victory. For most Labour ministers, the case was an uncomfortable reminder of an issue they would rather not talk about because they have pulled back considerably from the ‘trans women are women’ very pro-trans positions they (and some Conservatives too) were adopting only a few years ago.

The “gotcha” question for Labour ministers on trans issues from a hostile media used to be ‘can a woman have a penis?’. After last week’s judgment, it became, ‘what toilet should a trans person use?’ In interviews last week Karin Smyth, a health minister, ducked the question. The Daily Mail, a paper that in normal circumstances would be the first to denounce nanny state ministers passing laws telling people what toilets to use, said Smyth was squirming as she dodged the question.

But today Bridget Phillipson, who is minister for women and equalities as well as being education secretary, told the Today programme that a trans woman should use the men’s toilets. Asked which toilet trans people should use, she replied:

That should be on the basis of biological sex. That would apply right across the board to all single sex provision.

But she also said the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) would be setting out guidance on this issue. And she said firms should consider having unisex provision in place.

I know that many businesses, large and small, will ensure that they have appropriate provision in place. For example, many businesses have moved towards unisex provision or separate cubicles that can be used by anyone.

Currently many, or most, trans people do use toilets corresponding to their gender, not their biological sex, and they point out that normally this happens without anyone objecting, or even noticing. Last week, after Kishwer Falkner, chair of the EHRC, gave an interview also saying the supreme court ruling meant trans women should have to use male toilets, trans activists accused her of overreach.

Telling trans women to use male toilets would make a big change for some people. This is what a policy document from the Metropolitan police was saying on this topic only three years ago.

If someone (whether binary or non-binary) presents as, say, female then they use the female toilet and vice versa. There is no law or policy prohibiting anyone from using whichever toilet matches their gender identity, and a trans* individual cannot be ordered to use a toilet that they feel uncomfortable using. A trans* person does not need to “prove” their right to use the toilet in anyway, including producing a Gender Recognition Certificate.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Keir Starmer visits a military training base with Christopher Luxon, the New Zealand PM, as tney discuss a joint initiative to train Ukrainian solidiers. Starmer is due to give media interviews.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

2pm: The IMF publishes its latest world economic outlook, including revised growth forecasts for the UK.

2.30pm: Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

After 3.30pm: A minister is expected to make a Commons statement about last week’s supreme court judgment about the definition of woman in the Equality Act, and about policy relating to trans people.

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