The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden has claimed that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has "not changed his position" on the legal definition of a woman, despite his contradictory remarks in light of the Supreme Court ruling.
Speaking on the Camilla Tominey Show, McFadden directly addressed the question of whether the PM had altered his view on GB News.
When pressed by Camilla on whether Starmer is "fibbing" about his true views on gender, McFadden assured: "No, that's not the case.
"Look, we welcome the court judgment that came out last week, and there's been some new guidance from the EHRC as well to authorities and how they should implement this. We'll take that forward now that the guidance has been published."
Camilla Tominey grilled McFadden on Starmer's ever-changing stance on trans women
GB News
Highlighting previous remarks made by Starmer, having claimed that "trans women were women", and once suggesting that "one in 1,000 women can have a penis", Camilla pressed McFadden again, questioning why the Prime Minister is "pretending that he said something different".
As Camilla claimed it was "just a lie", McFadden hit back: "All the way through this, he's tried to treat people with dignity and respect, and we've still got to do that in this debate and in responding to the judgment. That's what he's tried to do. That's what he said at Prime Minister's Questions the other day, and that's what we've all got to do here.
"We've got some clarity from the court, which is welcome, and we've got some new guidance, which will have to be implemented now in the fields of sport and all sorts of other areas."
Drawing on McFadden's remarks on "dignity and respect", Camilla grilled the Labour minister on the party's treatment of ex-MP Rosie Duffield.
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Starmer welcomed the Supreme Court ruling despite previously declaring that 'trans women are women'
HOUSE OF COMMONSAsked why Starmer would not apologise to Rosie Duffield during Prime Minister's Questions, McFadden said: "I think Rosie left the Labour Party for a number of reasons… she said she wouldn't be interested in it and that she wouldn't find it meaningful.
"And her letter of resignation, I was sorry to see her go, but her letter of resignation outlined a number of different policy dissatisfactions. This may have been one, but it wasn't the only one, and so I think she left for a number of reasons."
McFadden concluded by reaffirming Labour's commitment to protecting single-sex spaces.
"When we stood at the election last year, we said we would protect single sex spaces. We want to do that," he stated.
McFadden told GB News Labour's intention is to 'protect single sex spaces'
GB News
He emphasised that this position was consistent with the party's own legislation.
"That protection for single sex spaces was in our own Labour Equality Act from back in 2010 and that's what we'll do going forward."
When quizzed by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch on the absence of an apology for Rosie Duffield, Starmer told Prime Minister's questions: "I’ve always approached this on the basis that we should treat everyone with dignity and respect, whatever their different views, and I’ll continue to do so.
"And I’ll tell you Mr Speaker for why, because when we lose sight of that approach, [we] make this a political football."
