Labour has cancelled its national women’s conference and restricted all-women shortlists as it awaits full guidance from the equalities watchdog, drawing criticism from trans rights and gender-critical campaigners.
The party’s governing body, the national executive committee (NEC), met on Tuesday to sign off plans to cancel the women’s conference, which was due to take place before the party’s annual conference in Liverpool in September.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s interim advice, published after the supreme court decision that the term “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman, has suggested that voluntary organisations should apply that rule.
The NEC had been told the party was at risk of a legal challenge if it went ahead with the conference, according to LabourList, and could face protests and direct action if the conference proceeded as usual on the basis of self-identification.
Guidance to the NEC also advised that “all positive action measures relating to women in the party’s rules and procedures shall be interpreted on the basis of biological sex at birth. Guidance shall be issued to all party units and relevant stakeholders to this effect.
“The party will work with individuals and local parties affected by the judgment to resolve specific cases with sensitivity and compassion, acknowledging the significant effect the judgment will have had on many people.”
The gender-critical group Labour Women’s Declaration said it was wrong to cancel the conference, calling it a “kneejerk reaction” and “incendiary action”. The conference acts as a policymaking body on particular issues affecting women.
“It would be exceptionally disappointing if our party, which strives to be a grownup and serious political force, and a strong government, could not find the courage to run this conference as planned and run it in accordance with law which was introduced under a Labour government,” the group said. “Women deserve better.”
Cancellation of the conference is likely to be costly and the NEC document notes there are “impending contractual commitments for services in connection with the event that involve significant expenditure”.
Labour for Trans Rights and Pride in Labour issued a joint statement, also signed by the trans officer for LGBT+ Labour, condemning the changes and urging NEC members to vote against them.
“The Labour party must set an example and stand on the right side of history,” the statement said. It added that the proposals were “not effective ways to ‘clarify’ anything”.
“We would also question whether the exclusion of trans women from women’s conference is a proportionate means to achieve a legitimate aim, as trans issues have come up time and time again during the conference. This seems to completely remove trans people from that debate. It is a blatant attack on trans rights and is seemingly an attempt to isolate trans people even further within the Labour party and the labour movement more widely.”
LGBT+ Labour’s trans officer, Georgia Meadows, said: “Trans people are already greatly underrepresented in British politics, and if passed, this decision by the NEC will further harm trans people’s ability to engage with the democratic process and make them feel unwelcome at a time when the trans community is increasingly under attack.”
A Labour source said the party would respect the supreme court judgment and comply with statutory guidance once published. Ministers will consider the EHRC code of practice when a draft is submitted.
MPs at the parliamentary Labour party meeting with Keir Starmer on Monday night raised concerns about LGBT rights and the interim advice issued by the EHRC, saying it went significantly beyond the supreme court ruling.
At a Westminster Hall debate on gender self-identification on Monday, a number of Labour MPs said they had been approached by worried constituents.
The chair of the Treasury select committee, Meg Hillier, said a transgender constituent who used women’s changing facilities without any issue would be forced to disclose her transgender status at work if she was forced to use men’s facilities. “This legal ruling creates a real mess that needs sorting out,” Hillier said.
The MP for East Thanet, Polly Billington, said: “This situation, in which interim guidance from the EHRC is causing more stress and anxiety than the initial ruling, is not acceptable for anyone. Anybody who thinks that the supreme court ruling is drawing a line or making things clear is greatly mistaken.”
The EHRC confirmed on Tuesday it would allow more time to consider its formal guidance on the supreme court ruling after the Guardian reported there had been a backlash from staff and stakeholders. The cross-party women and equalities committee asked the commission to extend its consultation timetable. The chair of the committee, Sarah Owen, said many transgender people were “anxious and unsure about where this ruling leaves them”.
The consultation will now take six weeks instead of two, closing at the end of June. The extended timeframe means that uncertainty for businesses, organisations and trans people is likely to persist over the summer because there is not enough time to lay the revised statutory code of practice before parliament for the required 40 days before recess begins.
The Good Law Project and a number of trans and intersex individuals have begun a legal challenge to the EHRC’s interim update which they say “authorises and approves unlawful discrimination”. The update, published nine days after the supreme court decision, set out that transgender people should not be allowed to use toilets of the gender they live as, and that in some cases they also cannot use toilets of their birth sex.
A Labour party spokesperson said: “Like all other organisations, the Labour party must ensure all party procedures comply with the supreme court’s clear ruling.
“Labour is clear that everyone in our society deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. The party will work closely with individuals and local parties to implement the necessary changes with sensitivity and care.”
