Labour divisions on Holyrood’s gender recognition bill have deepened after a party peer said the Tory Government was right to block the legislation.
David Blunkett, a former Home Secretary, said he backed “respect” on trans issues but claimed “women's equality trumps it all”.
Scottish Labour backed the SNP/Green Government on plans to make it easier for people to change their legal gender, but UK Labour leader Keir Starmer expressed concerns.
Tory Scottish Secretary Alister invoked Section 35 of the original devolution legislation to block the Bill from receiving Royal Assent.
He did so over claims the Bill could allow predatory men to exploit the system.
Lord Blunkett, who was Home Secretary under Tony Blair, sided with Jack over First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
He said: "It was right to use Section 35. I'm sick and tired of identity politics. I'm sick of having to debate it over and over again. We need respect."
Asked about Labour’s position, he said: "We are a bit all over the place, if I'm honest. We've just got to be clear. Respect for equality, ensuring people are treated properly, that we don't alienate, that we care about how people are feeling and their development and the emotions they're going through, but not pandering to situations which put aside 50 years of equality campaigning for women.”
He said: “Sex and gender are entirely separate things. You can have someone who feels that they are of a different gender, you can help and support them. But in the end, women's equality trumps it all.”
Lord Blunkett also raised the case of Isla Bryson, a transgender woman convicted of raping two women while she was a man.
It is understood she is being held at Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling while awaiting sentence for the crimes, which she committed before she began transitioning to become a woman.
The peer said it was “simply not acceptable” if the person ended up in a women’s prison.
Scottish Labour are opposed to the use of Section 35, while Starmer has not offered a definitive position.
The Bill scraps the need for a person to receive a medical diagnosis before receiving a gender recognition certificate and lowers the age at which someone can apply for a GRC from 18 to 16.
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