Labour has “completely abandoned” women’s rights and left women and transgender people in a “grey zone”, the former head of the equalities watchdog has claimed.
Kishwer Falkner, former chief of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), criticised the party for not publishing statutory guidance after a Supreme Court ruling in April judged that, for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, the words “woman” and “sex” refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
She told The Times she believes Labour was traditionally the “party of feminism”, but that the current generation of Labour MPs has “lost it”.
Baroness Falkner, who was appointed under the previous Conservative government, said: “What really depresses me about the current state of the Labour Party is that they seem to have completely abandoned women’s rights.
“The traditional party of rights, in my 40 years in this country, was the Labour Party. The party of feminism. I was mentored by a former, very senior Labour woman, Shirley Williams.
“I was aware of women like Harriet Harman, Margaret Jay and Hilary Armstrong, Labour women who were committed to feminism … and I think they’ve lost it. This generation of Labour MPs have lost it.”
Her comments come as organisations await new transgender guidance produced by the EHRC, which is being assessed by the government.
Ministers have had the guidance for three months, but have said they will not “rush” to publish the code of practice, insisting it will take the time needed to “get it right”.
The guidance will be used by businesses and other organisations to inform their provision of single and separate-sex services such as toilets and changing rooms.
The EHRC wrote to women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson in October urging her to hurry up with bringing in the new guidance, saying some organisations were currently using unlawful practices.
But the EHRC has faced criticism for its interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling, with some campaigners saying it has gone too far with its guidance.
The interim guidance they published earlier this year, which is expected to be similar to the final draft code of practice, is currently subject to a legal challenge, brought by the Good Law Project (GLP), which argues it is “rushed, legally flawed, and overly simplistic”.
The code has not been updated since 2011 and the latest draft has been produced in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
“The danger in not publishing it is that people are left in the grey zone,” Baroness Falkner said. “Women are still having to go to court to assert their rights. My greatest concern is that it’s very distressing for trans people. Some organisations are implementing it in one way, others are not.”
Baroness Falkner has previously been accused of causing “immense distress to the trans community” with comments made around the time of the ruling, including describing the verdict as a “victory for common sense” and arguing: “If a male is allowed to use a women-only service, it isn’t any longer a single-sex space.”
Meanwhile, the EHRC has been accused of lacking independence on the issue of trans rights.
A government spokesperson said it is “unapologetic” about taking the necessary time to produce “legally sound guidance”, adding that the alternative would be “utterly catastrophic and fail women across our country”.
Baroness Falkner’s comments come after the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) said this week that transgender women will be banned from becoming members from April next year, and Girlguiding announced it has banned trans girls from joining.
The NFWI’s decision was taken “with the utmost regret and sadness”, the organisation said, adding that it retains the “firm belief that transgender women are women”.
Girlguiding said it had been a “difficult decision” which had been made after “detailed considerations, expert legal advice and input from senior members, young members”, its council and board of trustees.
