Kemi Badenoch calls for broader review of equality and gender recognition laws
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has said she would support a broader review into equality and gender recognition laws in the wake of yesterday’s supreme court ruling.
Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to Cambridgeshire, PA Media report Badenoch said:
Biological sex is real. A gender recognition certificate is there to show that someone is now transgender, but that doesn’t change their biology.
So we need to make sure that the law is clear and the public bodies follow the law, not guidance from organisations that don’t understand it.
Asked if she thought gender recognition law should be rewritten, Badenoch, who was minister with women and equalities as her portfolio from October 2022 to July 2024, said:
I think that a review of equality acts, and the Gender Recognition Act is a good idea. These laws were written 20 years ago plus when the world was different. A lot of people are trying to change what the law means.
The supreme court has given a judgment, but I think that we need to update those laws to ensure that they are there to prevent discrimination, not for social engineering.
The Conservative leader claimed the supreme court ruling was “a vindication of so much that I fought for”.
Earlier Kishwer Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), described yesterday’s supreme court ruling as “a victory for common sense, but only if you recognise that trans people exist. They have rights, and their rights must be respected – then it becomes a victory for common sense. It’s not a victory for an increase in unpleasant actions against trans people. We will not tolerate that.”
In delivering the judgement yesterday, Lord Hodge of the supreme court said “the unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex. But we counsel against reading this judgment as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another. It is not.”
Key events
Closing summary
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Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has said she would support a broader review into equality and gender recognition laws in the wake of yesterday’s supreme court ruling. Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to Cambridgeshire, PA Media report Badenoch said: “Biological sex is real. A gender recognition certificate is there to show that someone is now transgender, but that doesn’t change their biology. So we need to make sure that the law is clear and the public bodies follow the law, not guidance from organisations that don’t understand it.”
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Kishwer Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), described yesterday’s supreme court ruling as “a victory for common sense, but only if you recognise that trans people exist. They have rights, and their rights must be respected – then it becomes a victory for common sense. It’s not a victory for an increase in unpleasant actions against trans people. We will not tolerate that.”
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Badenoch also criticised authorities in Hong Kong and China for not allowing Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse into Hong Kong. Hobhouse was attempting to visit family there when she was refused entry. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has called for the Foreign Office to summon the Chinese ambassador over the issue.
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The country’s largest education union will campaign in Labour MPs’ constituencies and make them “pay a high political price” if the pay offer is not improved, a union chief has warned. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said they “stand ready” to take strike action if the government’s final pay and funding offer is not increased, PA Media reported.
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PA Media reports that Rupert Lowe MP has instructed lawyers to issue letters of claim for defamation against Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage, chair Zia Yusuf and Lee Anderson, who is the chief whip of the four-strong parliamentary group. Lowe was recently suspended from the party, shortly after he appeared to gain public support from Elon Musk to replace Farage as leader.
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First minister John Swinney has said the SNP will “have to work incredibly hard” to retain the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency in the June byelection there. MSP Christina McKelvie held the seat from 2011 until her death last month, and Swinney said the poll was taking place in “really sad circumstances.”
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Shadow chancellor Mel Stride has highlighted the recent report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) which suggested business confidence in the UK has dipped severely. In a post to social media, the recently knighted MP said: “I take no pleasure in the ICAEW’s latest survey, which reveals UK business confidence has slipped into negative territory for the first three months of 2025, thanks to Labour’s anti-business budget.”
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British Transport Police (BTP) said trans women in custody will be searched from now on by male officers, in a change to their policy in light of yesterday’s supreme court ruling. The new policy appears to apply regardless of whether the person has undertaken gender reassignment surgery.
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Health minister Karin Smyth has said she hopes the outcome of the supreme court’s ruling on the legal definition of the term woman will draw a line under arguments over gender recognition
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Shadow cabinet member Richard Holden called for the government to pass legislation to codify the judgement in
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Ministers are having an “active conversation” with UK pharmaceutical firms about the potential impact of US tariffs
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People are being warned of Easter disruption to the rail network, with over 300 engineering works being undertaken. National Highways said it has removed roadworks from 1,127 miles of motorways and major A roads in England
You can read our report about the latest implications from yesterday’s supreme court ruling here
Simon Jenkins
I remember being 16 in the 1960s. The prime minister seemed geriatric and I was sure he should be in care, while a group of us went to meet our young MP, a certain Margaret Thatcher. She was young, but she didn’t seem as if she was with the times. We could not dream of voting for someone like her. Matter closed.
Sixteen-year-olds are great fun but they are not grown up. They cannot marry in England and Wales, drive, smoke, get a tattoo or buy alcohol on their own. They are legally classed as children and are supposed to be in formal education or training to 18. Sixteen-year-olds have not taken to the streets demanding the right to the franchise, like the Chartists or suffragettes did.
So why has Keir Starmer suddenly reiterated that he intends to enfranchise them to vote in UK-wide elections? The only plausible answer is that he hopes they will vote for him. In a desperate attempt to justify this manoeuvre, he says that, if 16-year-old soldiers “are old enough to take a bullet for our country”, they should get the vote. (Likewise if they are “old enough to work” and “pay taxes”.)
In fact, 16-year-olds are not old enough to “take a bullet”, since frontline army service is banned for under-18s. Meanwhile, precious few 16-year-olds work, since Starmer’s own party, when last in power, made it supposedly compulsory for them to remain in education or training to 18. As for taxes, younger children already pay VAT when they spend their pocket money. The whole argument is slapdash.
The prime minister has paid tribute to Christians “facing hardship, persecution or conflict around the world who cannot celebrate freely” in an Easter message.
Keir Starmer also called on the nation to “work together for the flourishing and renewal of our country”.
According to the 2024 World Watch list, an annual report published by Open Doors, about 365 million Christians are subject to “high levels of persecution and discrimination”, and in 2023 4,998 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons.
In his Easter statement, Starmer said:
As Lent comes to an end and we move into the Easter weekend, I want to wish Christians everywhere remembering the death and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ a very happy Easter.
The story of Easter is central to the Christian faith: it is a story of hope, redemption and renewal.
This Easter, as churches hold special services across the UK, and gather to celebrate with friends and family, we remember those Christians facing hardship, persecution or conflict around the world who cannot celebrate freely.
I also want to thank you for the ways in which you follow Christ’s example of love and compassion in serving your communities.
Whether through night shelters, youth clubs, toddler groups, family support, care for the elderly or chaplaincy support, and in a multitude of other ways, you demonstrate steadfast commitment and care.
We can all take inspiration from the message of Easter and continue to work together for the flourishing and renewal of our country.
BTP announces change of policy on searching trans people in custody after supreme court ruling
British Transport Police (BTP) said trans women in custody will be searched from now on by male officers, in a change to their policy in light of yesterday’s supreme court ruling. The new policy appears to apply regardless of whether the person has undertaken gender reassignment surgery.
PA Media reports a spokesperson said:
Under previous policy, we had advised that someone with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) may be searched in accordance with their acquired sex. However as an interim position while we digest yesterday’s judgement, we have advised our officers that any same sex searches in custody are to be undertaken in accordance with the biological birth sex of the detainee.
We are in the process of reviewing the implications of the ruling and will consider any necessary updates to our policies and practices in line with the law and national guidance.
PA Media reports that Rupert Lowe MP has instructed lawyers to issue letters of claim for defamation against Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage, chair Zia Yusuf and Lee Anderson, who is the chief whip of the four-strong parliamentary group. Lowe was recently suspended from the party, shortly after he appeared to gain public support from Elon Musk to replace Farage as leader.
The Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Reform UK leaders have all been out campaigning today ahead of May’s local elections.
In Scotland, Labour’s leader Anas Sarwar has called on the Scottish government to urgently issue guidance folowing its defeat in the supreme court yesterday over the meaning of the words in the 2010 Equality Act.
While visiting Larbert, Sarwar said:
The most urgent thing that John Swinney and this SNP Government has to do is issue clear guidance that ensures that all our public services and public bodies are complying with the Equality Act and upholding people’s rights.
That is the most urgent thing they need to do. If the SNP Government does want to pursue the gender recognition reforms, then they have to come forward with what they think any changes to any future legislation needs to be, and we would consider them on their basis.
Keir Starmer has issued an Easter statement in which he asked people to remember those around the world who are not able to celebrate freely.
The prime minister said:
As Lent comes to an end and we move into the Easter weekend, I want to wish Christians everywhere remembering the death and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ a very happy Easter. The story of Easter is central to the Christian faith: it is a story of hope, redemption and renewal.
This Easter, as churches hold special services across the UK, and gather to celebrate with friends and family, we remember those Christians facing hardship, persecution or conflict around the world who cannot celebrate freely.
I also want to thank you for the ways in which you follow Christ’s example of love and compassion in serving your communities. Whether through night shelters, youth clubs, toddler groups, family support, care for the elderly or chaplaincy support, and in a multitude of other ways, you demonstrate steadfast commitment and care.
We can all take inspiration from the message of Easter and continue to work together for the flourishing and renewal of our country.
The country’s largest education union will campaign in Labour MPs’ constituencies and make them “pay a high political price” if the pay offer is not improved, a union chief has warned.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said they “stand ready” to take strike action if the government’s final pay and funding offer is not increased, PA Media reported.
In his speech to the union’s annual conference, Kebede said it was “indefensible” for a Labour government to cut school funding and he added “we expect better”.
Delegates at the NEU conference voted to launch a formal strike ballot if the final outcome of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) process “remains unacceptable” – or if the government does not announce real-terms funding increases in the spending review in June.
Addressing delegates, the union chief said: “If the STRB recommendation is not above inflation, if it is not a pay award that takes a step towards a correction in pay, if it does not address the crisis in recruitment and retention, and unless it is fully funded, then we stand ready to act industrially.
“We will make Labour MPs pay a high political price through our campaigning in their constituencies, with our parents, across the country.”
Ed Davey and his team certainly have an eye for a photo opportunity. Today the Liberal Democrat leader has been campaigning in Devon, where he has cuddled a goat and been on a rollercoaster. The trip comes ahead of local elections in some areas of England. You can find our guide to the 2025 England local council elections here.
First minister John Swinney has said the SNP will “have to work incredibly hard” to retain the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency in the June byelection there.
MSP Christina McKelvie held the seat from 2011 until her death last month, and Swinney said the poll was taking place in “really sad circumstances.”
He told the Daily Record’s Planet Holyrood podcast:
I don’t think by any stretch of the imagination is the byelection outcome clear. We’ll have to work incredibly hard in the SNP to retain the constituency. I’ve got to rebuild the Scottish National Party, I’m doing that step-by-step. But it’s important that we all recognise the scale of the challenge that we face in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
