
Equalities watchdog to issue new guidelines on gender after ruling
New guidance for public bodies on single-sex spaces will be issued, after the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says it is "working at pace" to provide an updated code of conduct for services, including the NHS and prisons. The ruling could have implications for spaces such as hospital wards, changing rooms and domestic refuges.The case was brought by women's rights campaigners who challenged the Scottish government, arguing sex-based protections should apply only to people that are born female.
Five key takeaways from Supreme Court ruling
On Wednesday judges ruled that when the term "woman" is used in the Equality Act it means a biological woman, and "sex" means biological sex.This means a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) does not change a person's legal sex for the purposes of the Equality Act.The Supreme Court justices argued this was the only consistent, coherent interpretation.Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the organisation was "pleased" the judgment addressed "difficulties" it highlighted in its submission to the court.There is already Equality Act guidance which allows for women-only spaces, such as toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards in certain circumstances.But under the new ruling a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use a space or service designated as women only.That includes transgender women who have legally changed their gender and hold a GRC.The equality watchdog says it expects its updated guidance to be in place by the summer.The new guidance could also have an impact on women's sport, where the question over whether transgender women can participate has been a high-profile issue in recent years.Sports have tightened up rules around transgender athletes at the elite levels. Athletics, cycling and aquatics have banned transgender women from taking part in women's events.Other sports have put in place eligibility criteria. Earlier this month the English Football Association introduced stricter rules, but still allowed transgender women to continue to compete in the women's game as long as their testosterone was kept below a certain level.Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman, a prominent campaigner for trans-rights, said: "This is a deeply concerning ruling for human rights and a huge blow to some of the most marginalised people in our society.Trans rights campaigners have said they will be examining the judgment closely to decide on their next steps.The UK government has welcomed the "clarity and confidence" for women and service providers brought by the judgement.Health minister Karin Smyth said the government would be reviewing the ruling to "make sure we are fully compliant with it" and would be working with equality bodies to make sure organisations were fully compliant.She said the government was not interested in "so-called culture wars" and believed that everybody should have "their dignity and privacy and their rights respected"."I think now is the time to make sure that we look to the future, that rights are very clear for people and that service providers absolutely make sure they comply with the law," she said.
Hashtags

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


Spectator
24 minutes ago
- Spectator
Pride continues to crumble
In the canteen of the House of Lords last week, a friendly server asked me if I'd like some 'Pride pudding'. This turned out to be a rainbow-coloured crumble created in honour of Pride month. 'Er, no thanks,' I said, and then noticed a large 'Progress Pride' flag behind the counter. Oh dear, I thought. That'll set the cat among the pigeons. Sure enough, a couple of hours later the GC Cons Peers' WhatsApp group erupted. This is made up of those dinosaurs who style themselves 'gender critical' – i.e. they believe sex is biological, binary and immutable. For the uninitiated, the Progress Pride flag features a large, multicoloured chevron superimposed on the standard rainbow layout. The colours correspond to different groups that don't feel adequately represented by the common or garden Pride flag, and include the colours of the trans flag. (Yes, there's one of those, too.) Among the embattled armies facing off on the red benches, this flag is the banner of those who believe that trans women are women and should be granted unfettered access to women's spaces. That's long been an issue of heated debate in the Lords, but it's reached fever pitch following the recent Supreme Court ruling. We GC Cons naively thought this would settle the matter in our favour, but naturally the same progressives who during the Brexit wars condemned those who questioned the wisdom of the Supreme Court justices as rabble-rousing populists are now quick to condemn them as 'bigots' and 'transphobes'. Scarcely a week passes without the two sides locking horns over the judgment, with the LGBTQQIP2SAA Lab Peers arguing that it's meaningless until the Equality and Human Rights Commission has issued official 'guidance' about how to interpret it. Baroness Falkner, the EHRC's chair, is sympathetic to the GC cause, but she's due to step down in November and our opponents' plan is to delay the 'guidance' until they've managed to install a stooge in her place. Meanwhile, they're not about to lower their banner. So for the Progress Pride flag to be planted in the Lords' canteen was, for the GC Cons, a major defeat. The common parts of the House are supposed to be neutral ground. And, of course, another tactic of the pink-haired radicals (even some nonagenarian Labour baronesses have pink hair) is to present their highly contentious views on gender as politically settled, like climate change. In other words, this was a double blow – they'd parked their tanks in the demilitarised zone and succeeded in disguising them as electrically-powered UN peacekeeping vehicles. This could not stand! A tactic of the pink-haired radicals is to present their highly contentious views on gender as politically settled Several GC Cons immediately fired off letters to the Lords' bewigged officials. The doughty Baroness Nicholson was first over the top, quickly followed by Baroness Jenkin – the Boadicea of our tribe – and yours truly. My argument was that under the Equality Act the Lords has an obligation to foster good relations between those who have a particular protected characteristic and those who don't. Believing that sex is real is a protected belief and allowing the banner of those who think sex is 'assigned at birth' to fly in the canteen is hardly fostering good relations. No doubt the same peers who've rejected the Supreme Court ruling would dispute this interpretation of the Act and refer the matter to the EHRC, with judgment delayed until Falkner has gone. But, amazingly, the powers that be appear to have been convinced – not just by my letter, I'm sure – and over the weekend the flag was removed. Pride pudding is still on sale, but that's fine; it was the flying of the trans colours that was the issue, not the celebration of Pride Month. I even said in my letter that I had no problem with the Pride flag, which isn't strictly true. I'd prefer it if public institutions remained impartial when it comes to all political battles, even those the progressive left can justifiably claim to have won. No objection to gay rights obviously, but the Pride flag has come to mean much more than that and I find its ubiquitous presence in June oppressive, as if you're being ordered what to think about a whole cluster of issues. But one battle at a time and for now I'll take the win. In late breaking news, Labour has announced its preferred candidate to succeed Baroness Falkner – Mary-Ann Stephenson – and stone me if she isn't a bit GC herself. Was that a cock-up? I suspect not. My impression is that Sir Keir and his cronies recognise that prolonging this battle is a vote-loser, just as it was for the Democrats in the US election. The GC Cons may think we've succeeded in forcing the trans zealots to lower the Progress Pride flag. But in reality it's Labour that has abandoned this fight.


Spectator
24 minutes ago
- Spectator
Portrait of the week: Spending review, LA protests and Greta Thunberg deported
Home Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, was the last minister to agree funding in the government spending review. Once the NHS and defence were settled there wasn't enough to go round. The police wanted more. Everyone over the state pension age in England and Wales with an income of £35,000 or less will receive the winter fuel payment after all, at a cost of £1.25 billion, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced. Capital spending included £39 billion on social housing over the next ten years. The government also committed £14.2 billion for the new Sizewell C nuclear power station, but did not say where the money was coming from. Rolls-Royce was selected as the preferred bidder to build the country's first small modular reactors. Unemployment rose to 4.6 per cent, its highest level since 2021, up from 4.5 per cent. Any child in England whose parents receive Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals from September 2026, adding 500,000 to the scheme. Teachers in England can use artificial intelligence to mark homework, under government guidance. The NHS said that a blood shortage required an increase of donors from 800,000 to a million. David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, announced sanctions against two Israeli ministers over comments which 'incited extremist violence', banning them from entering Britain. Zia Yusuf resigned as the chairman of Reform UK. He had criticised Sarah Pochin, the party's new MP, for urging Sir Keir Starmer to back a burqa ban, saying: 'I do think it's dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn't do.' Two days later he returned to the party in a role with the so-called Doge UK team, seeking savings in council spending. Labour won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election for the Scottish parliament with 8,559 votes, ahead of the SNP's 7,957 and Reform's 7,088. There was rioting in Ballymena after an alleged sexual assault by two teenage Romanian-speaking boys. An audit commissioned by the secretary general of Unite found that there had been a 'pervasive fraud environment' in the union, which spent £112 million on building a hotel in Birmingham, losing £53.8 million. Last week Unite members voted to continue the dustmen's strike in Birmingham, which began on 11 March. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, agreed with US warnings against a new Chinese embassy at the former Royal Mint site on Tower Hill, fearing espionage. Marks and Spencer began taking online orders for home delivery again, six weeks after a cyber attack. Peter Easterby, the only racehorse trainer to have sent out more than 1,000 winners both over jumps and on the flat, died aged 95. Novelist Frederick Forsyth died aged 86. Abroad About 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed in Los Angeles by the federal government, against the wishes of Governor Gavin Newsom of California, to confront violent protests against the migrant deportation policy of President Donald Trump. A curfew was imposed and 700 Marines and 2,000 more National Guard were sent in. Mr Trump said he was 'disappointed' that Elon Musk had called his 'big, beautiful' budget bill a 'disgusting abomination'; Mr Musk complained of the President's 'ingratitude', declaring: 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election.' He then tweeted: 'Time to drop the really big bomb: Donald Trump is in the Epstein files.' He later deleted it. Mr Trump signed a proclamation banning entry for people from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen; a partial ban extended to Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Russia launched an attack with cruise missiles and hundreds of drones on Kyiv and other places in Ukraine; the next night Karkhiv was the target; on another night Kyiv and Odessa. Russia and Ukraine exchanged sick and badly wounded prisoners of war, those aged under 25, and bodies of 12,000 soldiers. Russia's mercenary group Wagner announced it was withdrawing from Mali after four years. A 75ft statue of Lenin in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, was quietly taken down. Eleven were killed in a shooting at a secondary school in the city of Graz in Austria, including the suspect. A yacht carrying Greta Thunberg and 11 others trying to bring aid to Gaza was towed to the port of Ashdod, after being seized by Israel, and she was put on a plane to Paris. CSH


Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
Thai ruling party grapples with border crisis, thorny court case amid bleak economy
BANGKOK, June 12 (Reuters) - Thailand's ruling party, besieged by a faltering economy and a border crisis, faces more uncertainty this week as the Supreme Court begins hearing a case that could lead to jail time for its most influential politician, Thaksin Shinawatra. The billionaire former premier, and the driving force behind the government of his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, skipped prison on his return in 2023 from 15 years of self-exile by serving his detention in hospital, on grounds of ill-health. But this week's proceedings could add to mounting troubles for political newcomer Paetongtarn and her Pheu Thai party, if the court deems the hospital detention unlawful and orders Thaksin to serve his original prison time. "There is already a crisis of confidence for the prime minister," said Wanwichit Boonprong, a lecturer in political science at Rangsit University. "Many people feel the government cannot handle all the crises the country is facing." An escalation in a border row with Cambodia has also rattled Paetongtarn's government, with Thailand's politically powerful military, which overthrew Shinawatra governments in 2006 and 2014, making its presence felt as nationalist rhetoric heats up. Critics will scrutinise the government's handling of critical talks with its neighbour set for Saturday, amid growing public unease over its management of an economy shackled by crippling household debt. A negative outcome in Thaksin's case and the border dispute would ratchet up the pressure on Pheu Thai, say analysts, both in the ruling coalition and among the public, as protest simmers. But veteran Pheu Thai politician Somkid Chuekong dismissed any potential political impact from Thaksin's case, emphasising that he has no direct say in government affairs. "He has only expressed his thoughts and suggestions on the government's work," said Somkid, who is Paetongtarn's deputy secretary-general. Thaksin could not immediately be reached for comment. His case and the government's handling of various challenges have chipped away at public confidence, said Rangsiman Rome, a lawmaker of the opposition People's Party. "It will be very difficult to govern in the short term, because the people no longer have any confidence left." Thaksin appeared in good health as he met cheering crowds on his return home in 2023, before appearing in court to be sentenced to eight years in jail for abuse of power and conflicts of interest. The 75-year-old spent just a few hours in jail before complaining of chest and heart problems and was transferred to the VIP wing of a hospital, prompting outrage and mockery from a public sceptical about the sudden deterioration of his health. A royal pardon cut his sentence to one year, and he was released on parole after six months. On Thursday, the Medical Council of Thailand will decide if three doctors who signed off on Thaksin's hospital stay should be punished for abusing their authority. That decision will feed into a Supreme Court process that starts on Friday concerning the legality of the hospital detention. It is unclear when it will yield a verdict. Despite not holding any formal position, Thaksin has cast a long shadow over the government, through meetings with foreign leaders, campaigning in local elections and weighing in on policy. Sixty percent of respondents in a poll last week believed Thaksin's case would affect the stability of a government whose popularity was shaken after it paused a cash handout programme to tens of millions of Thais. "He has a lot of influence on this government and it would hurt public confidence if the outcome of the case is negative," said Yuttaporn Issarachai, a political science expert at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. The Pheu Thai administration is also grappling to keep the border dispute with Cambodia from spiralling out of control, as both sides have mobilised troops before talks between their militaries curbed rising tension set off by a recent skirmish. Saturday's talks with Cambodia may not lead to a resolution, however, said Titipol Phakdeewanich, a specialist in political science at Ubon Ratchathani University. "The prime minister has not been very firm in her statements, which raised questions by some about whether this government is actually protecting the interests of the country," Titipol said. The border row has become a lightning rod for administration critics, with royalists holding small protests and urging the military to oust the government, as it has at least 10 times since 1932. "The country now faces security issues and nationalism is on the rise at a time when government leadership is at its weakest," said Jatuporn Prompan, a Thaksin ally turned critic. "Some people have started calling for a coup." But Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai last week talked down such a possibility. "The army has to do its duty," he told reporters. "There is no conflict with the government."