Bridget Phillipson has been accused of prioritising her ‘personal ambition’ ahead of upholding guidance on women’s right to single-sex spaces.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner has accused the Women and Equalities Minister of holding back from publishing guidance amid fears it could impact any potential promotion.
The former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) said delays in releasing the guidance on single sex spaces ‘betrayed’ women.
She described the Government’s lack of action as ‘cowardice’, as the former chief of the human rights watchdog insisted women have a right to expect trans women are banned from single sex spaces.
In her scathing swipe at Labour, she also claimed Sir Keir Starmer had not upheld the legislation on women’s single-sex spaces despite the Prime Minister previously being a lawyer.
Baroness Falkner’s attack is the latest instalment in an intense row over the Government’s failure to publish guidance after the Supreme Court ruled in April that the term woman in the Equality Act refers to a ‘biological woman and biological sex’.
Before departing her role at the head of the EHRC in November, Lady Falkner submitted an updated code to be shared with businesses on managing single-sex spaces to the Education Minister.
However, nearly a year after the Supreme Court ruling, Ms Phillipson has not yet published the updated code despite it being sent for Government sign-off.
Lady Falkner has boiled the delay down to the Education Minister’s ‘ambitious nature’ as she noted recent speculation about Sir Keir’s role as the UK leader and a ‘major reshuffle’ in cabinet.
Explaining how she believed Ms Phillipson did not want to ‘alienate the activist MPs’, she said the Education Minister had been ‘set back’ after her loss to Lucy Powell in the Labour deputy leadership race last year.
‘She is putting her personal ambition ahead of her role as the minister for women and equalities, and that is a very sad and sorry state of affairs for our country in terms of the message it sends about this Government,’ she said.
Meanwhile, she took aim at Sir Keir, claiming he was unable to uphold the law ‘ in its most visible form’, which she said was legal guidance provided by an independent regulator of that legislation – the EHRC.
‘There has to be a long, deep reflection on whether we’re going to continue as a society to uphold what I call muscular liberalism in that we balance rights – everybody’s rights – properly, and are not afraid of calling out wrongdoing because we’re intimidated by upsetting one group or another,’ she told The Telegraph.
The former head of the Civil Service, Sir Chris Wormald, also faced criticism from Lady Falkner after he refused to get rid of rules which allowed transgender women to use female toilets in Westminster.
She advised Dame Antonia Romeo, the current head of the Civil Service, to utilise her ‘reforming zeal’ to revise the role of gender ideology within departments in Whitehall.
However, a Labour source claimed Baroness Falkner had demeaned the EHRC with ‘these disgraceful personal comments’.
They said her comments sought only to ‘further stoke the culture wars that have inflamed and divided our country’.
‘Labour is doing things properly, providing the sober and grown-up leadership on these issues needed to ensure organisations and businesses need to uphold the law and everyone is treated fairly and compassionately, with dignity and respect,’ they added.
It comes after she accused Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden of ‘dissembling’ a new code of practice on single sex spaces and claimed it had been submitted in April.
At the time, Mr McFadden said the Government only received the code of practice in September.
Baroness Falkner told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme in December: ‘They’ve had it since April – the eighth, to be exact.
‘It’s not only about sex and gender. It’s an update on the 2011 code… which is way out of date – 14 years out of date – in nine protected characteristics: disability, age, race, the whole gamut.
‘They had the whole thing. We spent two years on it from 2022, they had the whole thing on April 8.’
She added: ‘So the Supreme Court verdict was on April 16, a few days after we gave it in to them. They knew we were going to update 10 per cent. That’s all we needed to update in terms of the Supreme Court verdict.’
Baroness Falkner said the EHRC code was just a ‘navigational tool’ and ‘the law of the land was determined on April 16, we’re nearly eight months now’.
She added: ‘These are profound, foundational and fundamental rights. And it is serious. And I don’t believe this Government is taking it seriously.’
But Mr McFadden denied the Government was stalling.
‘The guidance will have to apply across a whole range of sectors and organisations,’ he added.
‘It’s important to get this right, because if you don’t get it right, organisations will end up in further legal jeopardy.’
He said he had the EHRC’s draft guidance but, when asked about the publication date, replied: ‘We’ll get it right, rather than give an arbitrary date.’
The Daily Mail has approached Labour and Bridget Phillipson for comment.
