Rishi Sunak criticised for trans jibe in Commons
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Criticism has been directed towards Rishi Sunak for taking a dig at the Labour leader by referencing trans people, while a mother who lost her transgender child to murder was present in Parliament.
At the Prime Minister's Questions session on Wednesday, Sunak criticized Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour party's inconsistent stance on various policies. One of the examples he pointed out was their flip-flopping on the definition of women, although he acknowledged that they only partially reversed their position on this topic.
The remark was in relation to a statement made by the head of the opposing party during an interview in the previous year, claiming that 99.9% of females do not possess a male genitalia.
As soon as Sunak made his comment, Starmer responded in defense. This occurred while Esther Ghey, the mother of the late Brianna Ghey, who was a trans teenager that was murdered, was expected to be present in the audience to observe the events that were taking place.
He said it was quite shameful to utter those words while Brianna's mother is present in this room. It's a pity that he pretends to be a person of honesty when he has no accountability at all.
Beforehand during the meeting, the head of the Labour Party mentioned that Esther Ghey would observe their conversation from the audience. However, in reality, she did not witness Sunak's comment as she entered her seat later.
In the blog section of Sky News, it was reported that Peter Spooner, who is the father of Brianna, expressed his dismay with the remarks made by Sunak, which he deemed as "disrespectful" and "devaluing of human life."
He stated that it's inappropriate to use people's identities like that and it personally astounds him that someone would make such comments. He believes an apology is owed for the remarks made.
On Wednesday, Esther Ghey had a meeting with Starmer. She had recently kicked off a campaign to prohibit kids under 16 years of age from utilizing social media on their phones. This meeting took place a few days after the people who killed her daughter were put behind bars. Ghey also attended PMQs.
Jackie Doyle-Price, a politician from the Conservative Party and a member of the women and equalities committee in the House of Commons, expressed her belief on Times Radio that the statements made by Sunak were not well thought out and showed a lack of good judgement.
A previous member of the Conservative cabinet expressed their deep sadness towards the choice of words utilized by the prime minister. They cautioned that such language projected the party in an unfavorable light, suggesting a lack of empathy.
According to a representative from the Conservative party, the prime minister expressed concern over the numerous changes in public policy that the leader of the opposition has been making. The spokesperson emphasized that these are not to be taken lightly as they have serious implications. Therefore, the prime minister has a valid reason to bring this issue to the public's attention.
They refuted the claim that Sunak had made a statement that discriminated against transgender individuals.
Back in July, the Labour Party declared that they would not push through with their proposal to permit people to claim a different gender identity from birth without requiring a medical diagnosis. The Conservative Party also withdrew their comparable suggestion during the previous year, 2020.
Sunak's comment was made during a week where he faced backlash for taking a £1,000 wager about his proposals to relocate migrants to Rwanda prior to the upcoming general election.
During the prime minister's questions, Sunak acknowledged that the situation involving Brianna Ghey was an unimaginable tragedy. He praised her mother for demonstrating the most exemplary behavior in the face of humanity's worst acts. He expressed that she deserves all our admiration and accolades for her actions.
According to a representative from the Labour party, it is their belief that the citizens of the country do not desire or merit a leader who is willing to mistreat marginalized groups. Their statement suggested that the prime minister's remarks were highly insulting to transgender individuals and that he should take time to consider his words and make amends.
