
Equalities watchdog faces legal action over trans rules
Oh dear. Now legal action has been launched against the UK's equalities watchdog – alleging that guidance around transgender people and toilet facilities breaches human rights law. Jolyon Maugham's Good Law Project has today announced it has instructed a team of lawyers in a case against the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Labour's equalities minister Bridget Phillipson. Good heavens…
It comes after the ruling by the Supreme Court last month that backed the biological definition of a woman, concluding that 'sex' in the Equality Act referred to biological sex. The equalities watchdog insisted the ruling meant that transwomen should be prohibited from using female toilets and changing facilities – but despite the unanimous judgment coming from the highest court in the land, Maugham still isn't happy. 'Along either with a man and a woman who are trans and someone who is intersex,' he said, 'we are suing the EHRC and the equalities minister over the disgraceful and unlawful EHRC guidance.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Trans lobby groups 'lied for years' that anyone self identifying as a different gender could access women's' toilets, equality chief says
Transgender people were misled about their rights to female only spaces by lobby groups, according to a senior member of an equality watchdog has said. In April a Supreme Court ruling confirmed the terms woman and sex in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. Akua Reindorf, a barrister who is one of eight commissioners at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said trans people had been deceived about their rights were. Speaking in a personal capacity during a debate about the recent ruling, she said there must be a 'period of correction' to acknowledge women's right to women-only spaces. The decision made it legal for trans people to be banned from women-only sports teams, and from using bathrooms and changing rooms for the gender they lived as. These terms were later supported by interim non-statutory advice given by the EHRC last April. When an audience member at the debate raised fears about the recent Supreme Court ruling and how it could strip away trans peoples rights, barrister and panellist, Naomi Cunningham said: 'It can't be helped, I'm afraid.' In agreement with her fellow panellist, Ms Reindorf said she believed trans lobbyists were at faults for the misunderstanding. 'Unfortunately, young people and trans people have been lied to over many years about what their rights are,' she said. 'It's like Naomi said – I just can't say it in a more diplomatic way than that. They have been lied to, and there has to be a period of correction, because other people have rights' She claimed it boiled down to the law prior to the Supreme Court ruling being misunderstood due to groups contending trans people who self-identified should be treated as their preferred gender. However, this was only the case for the those who had obtained a gender recognition certificate (GRC). The barrister said the amalgamation of different rights made the Equality Act nonviable from a personal capacity. 'The catalyst for many to catch up, belatedly, with the fact that the law never permitted self-ID in the first place,' she said. As such, the feeling of a loss of right of trans people was due to an overwhelming product of 'misinformation' perpetrated by 'lobby group and activists'. Author JK Rowling backed the barrister's recent comments, saying lobby groups lied 'about what the law said'.' However, the head of gender justice at Amnesty International UK, Chiara Capraro, hit back Ms Reindorf's comments. She said: 'The EHRC has the duty to uphold the rights of everyone, including all with protected characteristics. We are concerned that it is failing to do so and is unhelpfully pitting the rights of women and trans people against each other.' A spokesman for the EHRC told The Guardian: 'Akua Reindorf KC spoke at this event in a personal capacity. This was made clear at the event and in the video recording published online. 'As Britain's equality regulator, the Equality and Human Rights Commission upholds and enforces the Equality Act 2010 to ensure everyone is treated fairly, consistent with the Act. 'Our board come from all walks of life and bring with them a breadth of skills and experience. This helps us take impartial decisions, which are always based on evidence and the law.'


Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Trans people have been lied to on legal rights, says equalities chief
Transgender people must accept a 'period of correction' over their rights after the Supreme Court ruling on gender because they have been 'lied to' about their legal status for years, an equalities chief says. Akua Reindorf, who is drafting guidance on how to treat trans people following April's ruling on the definition of a woman, added that the blame lay with their lobbyists. Ms Reindorf, a barrister and one of eight commissioners on the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), made her remarks in a personal capacity during a debate hosted by the London School of Economics. She said: 'Unfortunately, young people and trans people have been lied to over many years about what their rights are.' The EHRC has been given the task of developing new guidelines on transgender people for public buildings such as cafes, schools and hospitals, after the Supreme Court ruled transgender women are not legally women. Shortly after the ruling the EHRC released interim guidance advising: 'Trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women's facilities.' Ms Reindorf's words came as the NHS Confederation, which represents hospital trusts, scrapped its old guidance allowing transgender patients to use the toilets of the sex they identify with. A spokesman for the NHS Confederation said their old guidance is now 'dated' and requires updating to align with the Supreme Court ruling. The two developments will be seen as a major blow to transgender activists, who have been petitioning for public organisations such as the NHS to ignore the court's decision. The Girl Guides and Refuge, the largest domestic abuse charity for women, have both said they have no intention in changing their policy on allowing trans women to use their female facilities. Ms Reindorf described their approach as ridiculous, arguing it amounted to a 'huge farce'. She said transgender people 'have been lied to and there has to be a period of correction'. She added: 'The fact is that, until now, trans people without Gender Recognition Certificates, were being grievously misled about their legal rights. 'The correction of self-ID policies and practices will inevitably feel like a loss of rights for trans people. 'This unfortunate position is overwhelmingly a product of the misinformation which was systematically disseminated over a long period by lobby groups and activists.'


Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Whitehall attendance slumps in spite of Labour's pledge to crack down on civil servants working from home
Working from home in the Whitehall Blob is making a comeback under Labour, despite its promises of a crackdown. As a number of civil servants continue to shun returning to the office, attendances fell or remained static in more than half of government departments over the first three-month quarter of this year. The Treasury and Home Office were among 11 of 20 departments where attendance failed to improve despite the faltering economy and record numbers of migrants arriving this year. Chancellor Rachel Reeves 's office had the worst attendance rate among major departments (63 per cent), despite having to compile next week's spending review – when brutal cuts to some departments will be announced. Attendance also dropped at Bridget Phillipson's education Department (71 per cent to 67 per cent), which helped oversee a hike in VAT on private school fees, as well as at Home Secretary Yvette Cooper 's department (78 per cent to 76 per cent). The departments where attendance rates lowered were the Northern Ireland Office, which fell from 65 per cent to 57 per cent, and the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales, which plummeted from 81 per cent to 60 per cent. While attendance improved in some, the average rate across all departments fell from above to below 75 per cent from January to March. Meanwhile, between January 2024 and May 2024 – the months before the snap general election called by former Tory PM Rishi Sunak – attendance across Whitehall had an average of 77 per cent. The appalling figures come despite Sir Keir Starmer hitting out at civil servants in December. He said: 'Too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline.' He also pledged to increase public sector productivity after it dropped to 8.5 per cent lower than just before Covid-19. But critics said the latest analysis of official figures, carried out by the Mail, showed Labour was going soft on productivity. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: 'This Labour Government is not serious about delivering the reform the civil service so desperately needs. 'The last Conservative government had a plan to not only get civil servants back to the office, and increase productivity, but also to cut the bloated size overall – but Labour has totally failed to grip this issue or follow through. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: 'This Labour Government is not serious about delivering the reform the civil service so desperately needs. 'It is not surprising attendance rates are down when Labour supports lazy initiatives such as part-time work for full-time pay' 'It is not surprising attendance rates are down when Labour supports lazy initiatives such as part-time work for full-time pay. 'Taxpayers are being taken for a ride. Only Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives are serious about clamping down on this sort of nonsense.' William Yarwood, of the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group, said: 'The last government had some success in its war of attrition to get bureaucrats back behind their desks. 'But instead of building on those efforts, Labour has taken its foot off the gas. 'Labour ministers need to realise that if they want civil servants delivering on their priorities they need them in their office.' A Government spokesman said: 'Like at any organisation, small fluctuations in office occupancy can occur from month to month due to holiday, sickness or other events.'