Some top Labour MPs aren’t happy with how public bodies have responded to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the definition of a woman — and they’ve been venting about it in private WhatsApp chats that have now been leaked.
Rhondda MP Chris Bryant is among a group of Labour frontbenchers raising concerns about what they see as an over-the-top reaction to last week’s ruling, which said the term “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex. The judgment also stressed that this doesn’t remove protections for transgender people under the law.
But leaked messages shared by the Daily Mail show frustration from Labour figures, including Chris Bryant, over comments made by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Chair, Baroness Falkner. After one MP called Falkner’s Radio 4 interview “appalling,” Bryant simply replied, “agreeed.”
The UK government, for its part, welcomed the ruling, saying it gave “clarity and confidence” and reaffirmed support for single-sex spaces, including in places like hospitals and sports clubs.
But behind closed doors, Labour frontbenchers were rattled — not by the ruling itself, but by how some institutions have responded. Dame Angela Eagle, a Home Office minister, reportedly said in the chat: “The ruling is not as catastrophic as it seems but the EHRC guidance might be,” adding there were signs public bodies were “overreacting.”
She also pushed for the group to stay focused on delivering Labour’s manifesto pledges and called for better organisation among MPs. Chris Murray, MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, supported the idea of meeting up to discuss their next steps. Another MP in the group described it as “sad” that some institutions seemed to ignore the court’s clear statement that trans people remain protected by the Equality Act, reported Wales Online.
Angela Eagle responded by saying: “They won’t be feeling that way now and we need to remember that and organise.” Meanwhile, EHRC Chair Baroness Falkner defended the ruling in a BBC interview, calling it a “victory for common sense” and warning that allowing males into women-only spaces means “it isn’t any longer a single-sex space.”
Labour MP Steve Race also criticised Falkner’s comments, saying: “I think that the EHRC Chair on Today was pretty appalling this morning,” with Bryant chiming in again, “agreeed.”
The ruling has triggered widespread protests from trans rights groups. Thousands demonstrated outside Parliament in London, calling it an “emergency.” In Wales, hundreds gathered in Swansea’s Castle Square to voice their opposition too.
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