Furious row as Rishi Sunak accused of weaponising trans debate to win votes

Wes Streeting said prime minister was using equality ‘as a ‘wedge issue’ in an ugly culture war’

A Labour frontbencher has triggered a furious row after he accused Rishi Sunak of weaponising trans issues in a cynical attempt to win votes.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said the prime minister was using equality “as a ‘wedge issue’ in an ugly culture war”.

But a senior Tory hit back at the “surprising” attack and said that Mr Sunak was simply trying to ensure the protection of children.

It comes after a week in which leaked footage saw the PM making transphobic jokes and No 10 wading into a bizarre row about identity politics in schools.

Writing for The Independent to mark Pride month, Mr Streeting said: “We have a government, and a prime minister, who see an opportunity to use LGBT+ equality as a ‘wedge issue’ in an ugly culture war. Meanwhile, hate crimes against LGBT+ people are on the rise once again.

“The issues affecting young LGBT+ people today, and trans people in particular, are more complicated than when I was coming out.

“They demand leadership that handles them with care and sensitivity, rather than as a punchline or a way to score cheap headlines.”

Mr Streeting also warned that a hard-won consensus on LGBT+ equality “looks fragile at best”.

Wading into the row to defend Mr Sunak, former Tory cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “I am surprised at Mr Streeting as he is normally more considered. The prime minister has rightly been measured on these sensitive matters but is also trying to ensure that children are protected.”

And a spokesperson for the campaign group Conservatives for Women accused Mr Streeting of being “disingenuous”. They said: “Women’s rights and child safeguarding are not part of an ‘ugly culture war’ and it is disingenuous to frame this issue that way. The prime minister has been very clear that he is fully supportive of maintaining women’s rights to single-sex services, spaces and sports, and we are grateful he can define the word ‘woman’ – something many of his opponents struggle with.”

Trans rights are widely expected to be an issue in the next general election campaign.

During last summer’s Tory leadership contest, Mr Sunak repeatedly told Conservative Party members he opposed what he described as a “lefty woke culture that seems to want to cancel ... our women”.

He appeared to confirm that stance in a leaked video which saw Mr Sunak telling a gathering of Tory MPs last month that Lib Dem leader Ed Davey had been “trying to convince everybody that women clearly had penises”.

The PM added: “You’ll all know that I’m a big fan of everybody studying maths to 18. But it turns out that we need to focus on biology.”

No 10 insisted the joke was at the expense of Mr Davey, not a minority group. But the Tory leader’s comments caused outrage within his own party.

A source told PinkNews, which obtained the video: “We should be trying to understand and support, not belittle and demonise.”

The Lib Dem leader accused Mr Sunak of treating trans people like a “punchline” after the clip surfaced.

Rishi Sunak waded into a row over gender identity (PA/Getty)

Mr Sunak’s comments referred to an interview Mr Davey did with LBC, in which he said trans women “quite clearly” can have penises and called for “more compassion” around the debate.

Under the law, the Gender Recognition Act allows people to receive legal recognition of their “acquired gender”.

Earlier this year, the prime minister set himself at odds with Sir Keir Starmer by saying 100 per cent of women do not have penises. The Labour leader has suggested that as many as one in every thousand do have a penis.

In a separate move this week, No 10 waded into a gender identity row affecting a school in Sussex, prompted by a viral TikTok video of a teacher apparently defending a pupil’s right to identify as a cat.

Mr Sunak’s spokesperson said Downing Street expected headteachers “to act”, saying: “It’s important parents and carers are reassured that children aren’t being influenced by personal views of those teaching them. Any example that strays from this would be wrong and we would expect headteachers to act.”

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has urged school inspectors Ofsted to intervene. But the school has issued a statement insisting “no children at Rye College identify as a cat”.

It comes as the government is to set out new guidance to schools on trans issues in the coming weeks, expected to force headteachers to consult parents if their child speaks of a desire to transition to a different gender.

The latest official figures show sexual orientation hate crimes increased by 41 per cent (to 26,152) in the year to March 2022.

A government spokesperson said: “The UK has a proud history of LGBT rights, and one of the world’s most comprehensive and robust legislative protection frameworks for LGBT people. We have already taken great strides, including the publication of our HIV Action Plan, the founding of our Conversion Practice Victim Support Service, and the extension of same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland.

“We have also modernised the process of applying for a gender recognition certificate, reducing the cost of applying for a gender recognition certification and moving the process of applying online."