The decision involves children, parents, schools and doctors, and has implications for rights, mental health, responsibilities and culture – as well as the management of a restive parliamentary party.
If ministers want to foster a general atmosphere of equal treatment for lawful opinion, institutions such as local authorities and the police must set the example.
This is a complicated issue, not least legally, and ministers have to do their best to make sure any new rules are fit for purpose before rolling them out.
Like any tool, civil rights law and be used for good or ill. Parts of the left are committed to wielding it as a sword; conservative should be prepared, as Kemi Badenoch said of the UK’s Equality Act, to use it as a shield.
He adds that he takes a “slightly different view” to Sir Keir Starmer on the percentage of women who have male genitalia.
He was the most formidable Chancellor of the Twentieth Century and a titan of the modern Conservative Party – voting for Sunak and endorsing his approach in last summer’s Tory leadership election.,
Years of talking loudly whilst carrying a small stick have left voters unwilling to give the Government the benefit of the doubt.
We comprise half the electorate. You’re either with us – or with those on the left who can’t even bring themselves to define us.
A bolder government would not win every battle it fought, but it would win more than one that never gave battle at all.
I urge conservatives from all backgrounds not to not be cowed by the Twitter-warriors and the Left’s outrage mob, to support each other and speak up when necessary and most of all to follow the evidence. We have everything to fight for.
The UK’s equalities framework looks set to fragment because whilst the Equality Act is reserved, the Gender Recognition Act is not.
The idea that the Tories must somehow liberalise its policy agenda more is utterly, totally farcical.
The Party cannot afford to keep indulging in tough rhetoric on ‘culture war’ issues if it isn’t prepared to drive proper legislative and organisational change.
A court defeat for Stonewall’s employer programme, and the shuttering of the NHS’s controversial Tavistock clinic.
Prioritise sex over gender identity for safety and practical reasons, then have ministers publish guidance that is as black-and-white as possible, and prepare for the inevitable legal challenges.