Women's rights prioritised in equality law revamp
Women-only spaces will be protected in an overhaul of equality laws under plans being considered by the Government.
Transgender people will be routinely asked to present Gender Recognition Certificates and organisations compelled to define the difference between sex and gender under proposed changes to the equality code.
Britain's human rights watchdog last week submitted a 310-page revised version of its Statutory Code of Practice on Services, Public Functions and Associations.
The guidance, which was last amended in 2010, is considered to be 'out of date' by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The EHRC is pushing for a radical overhaul following fears existing guidelines on sex and gender were being loosely interpreted by hundreds of public bodies, allowing self-identifying trans people into single-sex spaces.
The code is currently being scrutinised by ministers and officials, including government lawyers, and could be presented to Parliament before the summer recess.
It will protect biological sex over gender identity as far as is possible under current law.
The aim is to update equalities guidance in line with more than a decade's worth of legal cases, court rulings, tribunal outcomes and new legislation.
It will heavily base its protections of philosophical belief on the outcome of the Maya Forstater case, according to those familiar with the plans.
In 2021, an employment tribunal brought by Ms Forstater ruled the belief that trans women are not real women is a belief that 'must be protected'.
The tax expert had been dismissed from her job after expressing gender critical views on the social media platform X. The tribunal ruled that her belief was protected under the Equality Act, setting a new legal precedent.
The overhaul comes after the case of the Darlington Memorial Hospital nurses, who are currently suing their employer on grounds of sexual discrimination and sexual harassment.
Darlington NHS Foundation Trust allowed a biological man who identifies as a woman but does not have a Gender Recognition Certificate to use the hospital's female changing room. The case will be heard in October.
'Transform the weather'
A government source familiar with the plans told this newspaper 'it will transform the weather' on sex and gender.
Its provisions include greater protections for single-sex spaces, including compelling all service providers and public facing organisations to clarify the difference between sex and gender.
It also permits organisations to routinely ask for a Gender Recognition Certificate from trans individuals seeking access to single sex spaces.
If implemented in full, it is expected to put the Government on a collision course with activist groups such as Stonewall, which has fought for trans people to be allowed into single-sex spaces.
The revision follows concerns at the EHRC and in government that there was widespread non-compliance with the spirit of the Equality Act, as gender identity has become a creeping stand-in for biological sex.
Last month, the independent Sullivan Review claimed that criminals are free to pick their gender because the Government is refusing to force police to record biological sex. It warned trans men and trans women were at risk of missing vital cervical and prostate cancer exams owing to confusion over their biological sex on official records.
The independent review recommended police forces and the NHS should collect data on sex rather than just a person's self-declared gender identity.
Last year, Baroness Falkner, the current chairman of the EHRC, said she had identified some 400 instances in which the Equality Act had been misinterpreted in recent years.
An update to the sister Code for Employers is expected to follow the revision of the code for service providers.
A Government spokesman said: 'Ministers will consider the proposals in due course.'
The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that single-sex spaces should be protected.
Government sources said ministers have not yet fully digested the revised code and that a timetable for implementation was yet to be set out.
The code could also be further updated in the coming weeks depending on the imminent outcome of a landmark Supreme Court case on sex and gender.
On Wednesday, Britain's highest court of appeal is due to rule on the case of For Women Scotland vs The Scottish Ministers.
The appellants, a gender-critical campaign group, have argued that sex-based protections for women should only be afforded to those born female. The Scottish government has argued that the definition of women should include trans people with a Gender Recognition Certificate.
If the court rules in favour of For Women Scotland the code could be further updated to reflect the change.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer says 'AI makes us more human' as he unveils new tech tool
Keir Starmer has insisted artificial intelligence 'makes us more human' in a keynote speech setting out his plans to use tech to create a 'better future' for generations to come Keir Starmer has insisted artificial intelligence "makes us more human" in a keynote speech. The PM suggested the tech could help workers spend more time on face-to-face help - instead of spending many hours filling out forms. It came as Mr Starmer said a new AI tool - 'Extract' - will also help speed up planning permission for new homes by scanning hundreds of files in a second. The government said it will slash 250,000 hours spent by planning officers manually checking documents - freeing up valuable time. Mr Starmer said the tool was already being trialled in councils including Exeter and Nuneaton. Addressing London tech week, he said: "What it does is take old hand-written planning documents and puts them into digital form within seconds. So jobs that otherwise would have taken hours and hours done in seconds. We want to roll that out across the country." Keir Starmer unveils plan to help one million schoolkids in major tech drive During the event Mr Starmer also said a social worker told him at a No10 reception that AI had helped her concentrate on the "human element" of the job". He added: "I've always said AI and tech makes us more human, which sounds an odd thing to say, but it's true. We need to say it because... some people out there are sceptical. They do worry about AI taking their job." But he added: "I believe the way that we work through this together is critical." Mr Starmer also said youngsters will be able to access more job opportunities in tech under a major drive to skill up Britain. The PM announced plans to help around one million school-age children gain skills in technology under a new TechFirst scheme. It will help to prepare kids should they want to become AI engineers, computer scientists or data analysts in the future. Mr Starmer has said that within the coming years the Government should be able to "look every parent in the eye" and pledge that tech can create a "better future" for their children. Speaking on Monday, he said: "By the end of this Parliament we should be able to look every parent in the eye in every region in Britain and say 'look what technology can deliver for you'. "We can put money in your pocket, we can create wealth in your community, we can create good jobs, vastly improve our public services, and build a better future for your children. That, to me, is the opportunity we must seize. That's what my plan for change will deliver and, today, I think we're taking another big step towards it."
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Rutte to meet PM as Nato chief says ‘quantum leap' in defence needed
The secretary general of the military bloc is expected to use a speech at London's Chatham House to say a '400% increase in air and missile' capability is required just to maintain deterrence and defence. He will say 'wishful thinking will not keep us safe' as he warns Nato must become a 'stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance' to protect itself, in the remarks on Monday, when he will also separately meet the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary John Healey. Mr Rutte is expected to say: 'The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. 'The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends'. He will add: 'We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies. 'Our militaries also need thousands more armoured vehicles and tanks, millions more artillery shells, and we must double our enabling capabilities, such as logistics, supply, transportation and medical support'. On threats against the alliance, Mr Rutte will say: 'Wishful thinking will not keep us safe. We cannot dream away the danger. 'Hope is not a strategy. So Nato has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance.' The Prime Minister has committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence from April 2027, with a goal of increasing that to 3% over the next parliament, a timetable which could stretch to 2034. But Mr Rutte's visit to the UK comes after he proposed members of the bloc spend 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence as part of a strengthened investment plan for the alliance. The target would require nations to raise core defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, while the remaining 1.5% is to be made up of 'defence-related expenditure'. Nato leaders will meet in The Hague later this month, when the total 5% spending target by 2035 will be discussed. The UK's Strategic Defence Review, which was published on Monday, recommended sweeping changes, including a greater focus on new technology, including drones and artificial intelligence based on rising budgets. The boost to the defence budget will be confirmed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her spending review on Wednesday, when she will set out the Government's priorities for the next three years.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Minister says spending review will mark ‘end to austerity', as Home Office yet to agree deal
Update: Date: 2025-06-09T08:32:22.000Z Title: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, settled with the Treasury late last night. Content: Good morning. In theory spending review negotiations can go up to the wire, with the final talks to resolve sticking points taking place late at night, only hours before the final decisions, and documents, are presented to MPs. In practice, it does not really happen like that now, last-minute haggling is no longer routine, and, with two days to go beofre the spending review that will settle government spending until 2019, only one cabinet minister has not yet settled. Here are the key developments this morning on the issue that will dominate the week. The news was broken by Arj Singh from the i, who reports: The i Paper understands that Rayner and Reeves agreed a deal just after 7.30pm after marathon talks on Sunday. But Home Office and Treasury sources were tight lipped on Sunday, in an indication that negotiations over police funding are also going to the wire. That means Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is the only minister yet to agree a spending settlement with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. In the Times Chris Smyth says police budgets are expected to rise by more than inflation, but other parts of the Home Office budget may face cuts. He reports: It is understood that Reeves has insisted that policing budgets will rise in each year of the spending review, which sets funding up to 2028-29. However, it remains unclear if the boost will match the more than £1 billion extra officers say is needed to cover existing shortfalls. Cooper is also expected to have to find deeper cuts elsewhere to boost police budgets. The Border Force has warned of longer queues at airports as it faces cuts to its £1.2 billion budget, saying there would be a 'threat to national security' if it lost frontline staff. Two police unions have launched a last-minute bid for extra money. In an article in the Daily Telegraph, Nick Smart, president of the Police Superintendents's Association, and Tiff Lynch, acting chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, say: Police are being asked to do more with less – again – as pressure mounts on already overstretched budgets. Why? Policing faces a £1.2 billion shortfall. This is before it is asked to deliver the ambitious pledges of the new government. Police forces across the country are being forced to shed officers and staff to deliver savings. These are not administrative cuts. They go to the core of policing's ability to deliver a quality service: fewer officers on the beat, longer wait times for victims, and less available officers when a crisis hits. As a practical lobbying exercise, this is fairly pointless, because it comes too late, but the two unions are making their case to the public. Chris Bryant, the culture minister, has said that the spending review will mark 'an end to austerity'. He told Times Radio: We know from running the government that spending money of itself isn't an achievement. Spending money and getting results is an achievement and that's why we are saying now with this spending review on Wednesday it's an end to austerity … That period of austerity where I think previous governments simply cut all public service budgets just because they believed that was what you had to do is over. But he also said some budgets would be 'stretched'. He said health and defence spending would rise, but added: There are going to be other parts of the budget that are going to be much more stretched and be difficult. Ministers have been promising the end of austerity at least since Theresa May was in office. Labour defend using the term on the grounds that overall government spending is going up in real terms. But there is no agreed definition of 'austerity' and, if spending is falling in certain areas, that may feel like austerity, and so using the term does not contribute a lot to public debate. What it does mean, though, is government not wanting to be associated with George Osborne. Here is our overnight story about the spending review. Here is the agenda for the day. Morning: Keir Starmer gives a speech at a London Tech Week event. 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing. Noon: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, gives a speech at Port Talbot in south Wales. 2.30pm: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, takes questions in the Commons. Also, Starmer is meeting Mark Rutte, the Nato general secretary, in Downing Street today. If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can't read all the messages BTL, but if you put 'Andrew' in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word. If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @ The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary. I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can't promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
