Have the Liberal Democrats sold out women in return for a big donation from a financial backer of transgender causes?
The Lib Dems received £225,000 in March from Simon Ruddick, who has said support for trans rights is a priority.
Sex Matters, the gender critical campaign group, reports that shortly afterwards, party leader Sir Ed Davey and senior Lib Dems stepped up their opposition to new guidance protecting women’s spaces.
Last year’s Supreme Court ruling declared that “sex” in the Equality Act refers to biological sex, not so-called gender identity. As a result in May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission laid its new draft code of practice before parliament. The guidance makes clear that women’s toilets, changing rooms and other female-only facilities can lawfully exclude biological males.
These are important wins for women. Yet last month, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed and his women and equalities spokeswoman wrote to the Labour government urging them to scrap the code because it was not pro-trans enough.
At the time the Lib Dems own women's rights groups, Liberal Voice for Women accused their leaders of having “actively chosen to ignore” women who want and need single-sex spaces.
So why did those alleged liberals abandon women’s rights? Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, said the party’s change in position was “remarkably aligned” with the donations from Ruddick, a big backer of trans activism.
The new guidance was supposed to keep women safe - do the Lib Dems care more about racking up donations than they do about protecting women? We deserve to know.
Reform UK is resolute in our insistence that sex is a matter of biological fact, and our defence of women-only toilets, changing rooms and spaces. And our policies are not for sale to anybody.
The Lib Dems received £225,000 in March from Simon Ruddick, who has said support for trans rights is a priority.
Sex Matters, the gender critical campaign group, reports that shortly afterwards, party leader Sir Ed Davey and senior Lib Dems stepped up their opposition to new guidance protecting women’s spaces.
Last year’s Supreme Court ruling declared that “sex” in the Equality Act refers to biological sex, not so-called gender identity. As a result in May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission laid its new draft code of practice before parliament. The guidance makes clear that women’s toilets, changing rooms and other female-only facilities can lawfully exclude biological males.
These are important wins for women. Yet last month, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed and his women and equalities spokeswoman wrote to the Labour government urging them to scrap the code because it was not pro-trans enough.
At the time the Lib Dems own women's rights groups, Liberal Voice for Women accused their leaders of having “actively chosen to ignore” women who want and need single-sex spaces.
So why did those alleged liberals abandon women’s rights? Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, said the party’s change in position was “remarkably aligned” with the donations from Ruddick, a big backer of trans activism.
The new guidance was supposed to keep women safe - do the Lib Dems care more about racking up donations than they do about protecting women? We deserve to know.
Reform UK is resolute in our insistence that sex is a matter of biological fact, and our defence of women-only toilets, changing rooms and spaces. And our policies are not for sale to anybody.
