A summary of today's developments
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and minister for women and equality, made a statement to the Commons about the supreme court judgement.She said the government will continue to protect single-sex spaces, based on biological sex. And it will protect “the rights of all people with protected characteristics now and always”.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, claimed that Tories fought for women at every point but that it faced “hostility from activist groups”. She said that, when she was in government, she argued for sex to be defined as biological sex. And she said she blocked the SNP introducing from introducing “their mad self identity laws”.
Business and trade minister Sarah Jones told the Commons that British Steel will end a consultation on up to 2,700 redundancies without action, after the Government took control of the firm earlier this month. She added the government has secured the raw materials needed to keep the glass furnaces operating in Scunthorpe and it is working at pace to secure a steady pipeline of materials.
Rachel Reeves was due in Washington on Tuesday evening for what could be a pivotal week for a proposed US-UK trade deal. Officials say an agreement is ready to sign but may have to be ripped up at the last minute should the US president impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals. The chancellor was flying into the US capital for meetings she hopes will help persuade Donald Trump’s administration to reduce tariffs on UK steel, cars and aluminium. “The draft text is there and it is ready to sign,” said one UK government source. “We are happy with the draft we presented to the Americans weeks ago – though it does not currently cover pharmaceuticals.”
Britons are opposed to President Trump being invited to address parliament when he visits the UK by almost three to one, a YouGov poll suggests.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said today’s IMF report downgrading its growth forecasts for the UK (and the rest of the world) shows the need for an “urgent rethink” in British economic policy. In a statement, Davey said: “Donald Trump’s damaging trade war has taken a wrecking ball to the global economy, with the UK set to be badly hit. The government needs to be working to boost trade with our allies in Europe and the Commonwealth and tackle Trump’s tariffs head on. Simply sitting back and hoping we won’t be impacted hasn’t worked. It’s time for an urgent rethink before it’s too late.”
Most of the excess rubbish accumulated in Birmingham as a result of the bin strike has been cleared, MPs have been told. Jim McMahon, the communities minister, said that, even though the strike continues, “significant progress” has been made in clearing the backlog.
The government is considering long-term alternatives to blast furnaces as a way of making virgin steel, the industry minister said.
Sarah Jones said officials were looking at examples in Europe where countries were using hydrogen rather than blast furnaces.
She was responding to a question from former Tory trade minister Sir Edward Leigh, whose Gainsborough constituency is in the same county as the Scunthorpe steelworks.
Jones said: “The capacity for primary steel-making production is very important and the steel strategy is looking at exactly how we deliver that.
“There are new ways of delivering primary steel using for example hydrogen, which other countries, other European countries are now using and developing and we will ensure that whatever the future might bring, we have the right level of production here in this country.”
Conservative shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith has described the government’s interventions at Scunthorpe as “botched nationalisation”.
He told the Commons: “We’re here once again because the Government had no plan – they failed to prepare, they bungled negotiations, they took too long to listen to the warnings, and what do we have to show for it? This botched nationalisation.
“A potential bill for the taxpayer stretching into the billions. I say billions, but it remains entirely unclear how much this bungled eleventh-hour decision will cost while the assets still belong to China.”
Griffith later said: “Steel nationalisation, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) downgrading growth forecasts, trade union summits in Number 10 – it’s all sounding a bit 1970s.
“The simple problem is that we do not know the answers to any of these questions as the Government has failed to publish an impact assessment.”
Responding, industry minister Sarah Jones said: “On nationalisation, last week, the shadow business secretary – who was also as we know the financial secretary when Liz Truss crashed the economy – said he backed full nationalisation of British Steel, but on the other hand, this morning the Leader of the Opposition (Kemi Badenoch) on Radio 4 said nationalisation should be the last resort.
“It seems a bit muddled.”
Jones said Griffith had asked “reasonable questions about the costs” but warned some of the detail is “sensitive and commercially confidential”, adding: “We will publish accounts in due course.”
Rachel Reeves was due in Washington on Tuesday evening for what could be a pivotal week for a proposed US-UK trade deal.
Officials say an agreement is ready to sign but may have to be ripped up at the last minute should the US president impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
The chancellor was flying into the US capital for meetings she hopes will help persuade Donald Trump’s administration to reduce tariffs on UK steel, cars and aluminium.
“The draft text is there and it is ready to sign,” said one UK government source. “We are happy with the draft we presented to the Americans weeks ago – though it does not currently cover pharmaceuticals.”
Another said: “We know we’re going to have to react quickly if Trump puts tariffs on pharmaceutical products, but we’re ready to do so. We couldn’t account for that in the draft text because we didn’t know what tariffs there were going to be on the industry.”
Industry minister Sarah Jones said the government does not “intend to replicate” state intervention into sectors beyond steel as she told MPs that both of the UK’s last remaining blast furnaces can continue to operate.
She told the Commons: “It is regrettable that when this Government took office, we inherited a steel sector in crisis and an iconic British company facing an existential threat.
“Since day one, we have worked tirelessly with British Steel and the trade unions to find a resolution, because blast furnace closures at Scunthorpe is an outcome this Government was simply not willing to allow.
“To that end, I want to stress that this kind of state intervention is not one we intend to replicate in other situations or other industries. We recognise that unprecedented action was warranted for what was a truly unprecedented situation.”
Referring to an extraordinary recall of Parliament on a Saturday during its Easter recess, Jones later added: “Officials were on site to help British Steel within hours of the Steel Industry Act becoming law and we are already seeing the real-world impact of our decisive intervention.
“I am delighted to say that British Steel has also confirmed today that they can keep operating both of the UK’s last remaining blast furnaces, in contrast to Jingye’s plans to shut one of them down earlier this month.”
Updated
The Scottish government has said it will abandon its plans to change legislation on gender recognition, the high watermark of Nicola Sturgeon’s progressive agenda, as it moved to reassure the trans community that “you are valued”.
In a statement to MSPs on Tuesday afternoon, the social justice secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said Holyrood “fully accepts” the judgment of the supreme court, which ruled against Scottish ministers last Wednesday in the culmination of a long-running legal action brought by the campaign group For Women Scotland.
In a decision that was backed by gender-critical activists, five judges ruled unanimously that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates (GRCs).
For Women Scotland were challenging Scottish government legislation aimed at improving gender balance on public boards, which allowed trans women with a GRC to sit in posts reserved for women.
Somerville said the Scottish government would now amend guidance on this legislation to take account of the ruling.
Speaking on the ruling and its potential impact, she added that her government had “no plans” to bring back Sturgeon’s flagship gender recognition agenda, which was blocked by Rishi Sunak’s UK government in 2023.
It marks a significant change of tone under the first minister, John Swinney, who has avoided re-engaging with an issue that has been divisive within his party – in particular those opposed to the Sturgeon-brokered governing partnership with the Scottish Greens and their focus on LGBT+ policies.
Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson earlier in response to questions on when she will issue guidance to schools about gender questioning children, told the Commons: “We will be issuing that guidance this year.”
Giving a readout of Keir Starmer’s meeting with his New Zealand counterpart, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister hosted New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at Downing Street today.
“The two leaders reflected on their visit to Operation Interflex to see Ukrainian troops being trained earlier today and the importance of supporting Ukraine for the long term.
“Discussing the coalition of the willing, the Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Luxon for New Zealand’s ongoing support, adding that the planning phase was making good progress across all four domains – land, air, regeneration and sea.
“The Prime Minister welcomed New Zealand’s recent uplift in defence spending and both agreed the direct link between defence spending, economic security and putting money back in the pockets of hardworking people.
“Turning to the situation in the Indo-Pacific, the leaders agreed on the importance of working together to support regional stability and counter malign threats.
“They also discussed the strong trade links between the UK and New Zealand, and the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon.”
Sarah Jones adds that the government has secured the raw materials needed to keep the glass furnaces operating in Scunthorpe and it is working at pace to secure a steady pipeline of materials.
Sarah Jones says British Steel has cancelled the redundancy consultations started by Jingye.
Business and trade minister Sarah Jones will now update the Commons on the future of British Steel.
That concludes the statements on the Supreme Court Judgement in Parliament.
Reform MP Lee Anderson says “a man is a man, and a woman is a woman” and asks “can a woman have a penis?”
Equalities minister Phillipson replies: “Blokes shouldn’t beat up women, maybe he should have a word with his colleague”.
Phillipson was citing the case of James McMurdock, the Reform MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, who did not publicly disclose his conviction for assault before being elected in 2024, and claimed he had “pushed” his partner when details were first disclosed.
The Times later obtained information about his sentencing from the courts, which said he was detained for 21 days in a young offender institution for kicking the victim “around four times” in 2006 when he was a teenager.
Updated
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi asked if the charities Stonewall and Mermaids will be held to account for the “damage” they have caused, and said she had witnessed a “lobby” push MPs into asserting that trans women are women.
Antoniazzi said: “Since I’ve been in this House, I have felt the force of the lobby which has made people and MPs across this House stand there and say that trans women are women.
“What happened last week was the Supreme Court said that sex in the Equality Act is actually biological sex. That, I welcome. But what is (Bridget Phillipson) going to do to deal with the types of damage, or the damage that Mermaids, and Stonewall have caused for a generation, that’s 14 years, under a Tory government.
“What steps is she going to take to make sure that they rectify the damage they’ve done to a generation of trans and gender questioning children?”
Equalities minister Phillipson said: “Where we are talking about children and young people, this has to be about their wellbeing, because we are often talking about young people who are very vulnerable, who are experiencing real difficulties in their lives.
“Hilary Cass’s review made clear that young people in that situation do need support, do need protection, and that is why we will this year also publish revised gender questioning guidance for our schools as well, to provide that further clarity that is needed.”
Dawn Butler asks the minister whether her department is liaising with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to seek assurances that they will work at pace and set timelines for updating statutory guidance.
Bridget Phillipson said they are working with EHRC in this important area.
Labour MP Butler also asked if people will need to prove their birth sex. “I don’t know if anyone else in the House has butch lesbian friends, and have been with them when they’ve been told to get out of women’s toilets, but I have. And it is not pleasant and it is not nice,” she said.
Phillipson said: “Lesbians should not be treated in a discriminatory way and we must ensure that there are toilets and facilities available for everyone within our country.”
The SNP needs to “ditch the divisive gender self-ID agenda once and for all”, Conservative MP John Lamont said.
Lamont told MPs: “The Supreme Court’s ruling goes a long way to guarantee the rights and safety of women and girls.
“But does the minister agree with me that the judgment highlights why it’s now right for the SNP Government to finally ditch the divisive gender self-ID agenda once and for all, and proves it was totally wrong for Scottish Labour to back the SNP gender recognition reform Bill?”
Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said: “My understanding is that the Scottish Government do not intend to progress their gender recognition reforms. My officials will work with the EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission), who will in turn also work with the Scottish Government.
“I believe Scottish ministers have indicated that they wish to engage with the EHRC on this guidance, which is an important and welcome development.”
Dame Meg Hillier asks about the ban on toilets, citing one trans constituent who has used female toilets for much of her life.
Bridget Phillipson replies that the provision of single sex spaces is on the basis of biological sex and the EHRC’s code of practise for businesses and others will ensure there is appropriate provision for all.
Dame Emily Thornberry told the Commons: “The overwhelming threat to women and to all of the trans community” is violence by men.
The MP for Islington South and Finsbury in London added: “Over the last few days, calls to Switchboard, the national LGBT+ helpline in my constituency, has skyrocketed from callers who are in fear for what this ruling means to them.
“Because trans people frightened to use public loos today know one thing – and does the Secretary of State agree we should all be clear about this – the overwhelming threat to women and to all of the trans community is the violence that we suffer from cis men?”
Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson replied: “I agree that male violence remains a very serious challenge that we face as a country, a challenge that this Labour Government is determined to confront.
“But I would say to her that the ruling of the Supreme Court was clear about the importance of biological sex, but I would not want any trans person in her constituency or anywhere across the country to be fearful.
“I believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, not to face discrimination or harassment, and that is why we will back the police to ensure that action is taken against anyone who behaves in that way.”
Christine Jardine cites Bridget Phillipson’s experience of working in a refuge. She adds this issue “should not be at the cost of human rights and security of another vulnerable in society which this threatens to do.
She asks where can transgender people fleeing violence go for refuge and is it acceptable for transwomen being forced into men’s toilets.
Phillipson replies that dignity and respect should be all. And that is compatible with single sex spaces existing for biological women fleeing abuse.
She adds there are specialist services for trans people fleeing abuse.
Updated
Bridget Phillipson has urged the Conservatives to “get offline and get on board”.
Kemi Badenoch had told the Commons: “As minister for women and equalities, I published guidance for schools that made clear that toilets and changing rooms must be provided separately for girls and boys. She scrapped that guidance.
“Will she stand up to the unions and urgently publish what she now admits is the law?
“She also scrapped RHSE (relationships, health, and sex education) guidance to prevent schools from teaching contested gender ideology as fact. Will she now publish this guidance and remove materials that mis-state the law?”
Phillipson said in her reply: “Merely months before the election was called, they published a version of the draft guidance for gender-questioning children, and since that time we had the final review published by Dr Hilary Cass – it is right that we ensure that guidance aligns with Dr Cass’s final review.
“On the RHSE guidance, that consultation concluded after the election. We couldn’t be clearer – we will always protect single-sex spaces, and on this side of the House we are focused on delivering for women.”
She later added: “This Labour Government has a plan for change, a plan that will deliver for women. It’s time for her party to get offline and get on board.”
Kemi Badenoch has asked whether Keir Starmer will “crack down” on trans rights groups which protested over the weekend, after statues were daubed with graffiti.
She told the Commons: “Now that we have legal clarity, will the Prime Minister show some courage and do the right thing?
“Will he apologise to the member for Canterbury (independent MP Rosie Duffield) who faced so many security concerns as she was hounded out by the Labour Party and was rebuked by the Prime Minister and many Labour MPs sitting there looking at me for stating what the Supreme Court has now ruled to be true?
“Will she (Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson) apologise to the member for Canterbury? I doubt it.
“Will the Prime Minister crack down on the groups we saw defacing statues of Suffragists over the weekend with the same energy he reserves for his political opponents, or will we see more two-tier justice, because the last time we saw Labour MPs standing next to them with no rebuke whatsoever?”
Phillipson says Badenoch 'did nothing' for women when she was equalities minister
Phillipson was not cowered by Badenoch’s attack on Labour’s record on trans issues (see 5.57pm) and hit back forcefully.
Responding to the Tory leader, Phillipson said many people in Badenoch’s position would have run away from defending a record like hers. She went on:
She [Badenoch] had 14 years to provide clarity on the issues they may now claim to take an interest in, and the supreme court confirmed that Labour’s Equality Act is the basis for single sex spaces and protection. But they didn’t. They didn’t provide that clarity.
I have supported countless women and children fleeing male violence … And during my time running that refuge, while Labour was delivering the groundbreaking Equality Act, which this ruling confirms involved single-sex spaces, what was the leader of the opposition doing? She was busy hacking the website of the leading architect [of the Act – Harriet Harman].
She held the post of minister for women and equalities for two years, and did precisely nothing …
She comes here claiming to support women – look at her record and her party’s record: an increase in stalking offences, prosecutions and convictions for domestic abuse nearly halved since 2015 … a 2,000% increase in the use of mixed sex wards in over 10 years. That is their record.
That is all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is taking over now.
Badenoch says Labour's claims to have always defended single-sex spaces are 'shameless work of fiction'
Unusually, Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, responded to Phillipson’s statement on behalf of the opposition. She was minister for women and equalities in the last government and often sounds more animated when talking about transgender issues than anything else.
She started with the customary thanks for advance sight of the ministerial statement. But she said it was “mostly a shameless work of fiction”.
She explained:
I could not believe my eyes or my ears this afternoon. In 2021 the prime minister said it is not right to say only women have a cervix. In 2022 he said it is the law that trans women are women. In 2023 he said, and I quote, “99% of women don’t have a penis”.
I know what a woman is, and I always have the people of this country know what a woman is. We didn’t need the supreme court to tell us that, but this government did - a Labour government so desperate to jump on a bandwagon that they abandoned common sense, along with the SNP, who put rapists in women’s prisons, and, of course, the Liberal Democrats.
She claimed that Tories fought for women at every point but that it faced “hostility from activist groups”.
She said that, when she was in government, she argued for sex to be defined as biological sex. And she said she blocked the SNP introducing from introducing “their mad self identity laws”.
David Lammy, the foriegn secretary, even described opponents of gender self-ID as dinosaurs, she said. She goes on:
Labour now says that they knew what a woman is and the transgender should use services and facilities designated to their biological sex. They’ve never said this before. This is a U-turn, but we welcome it. Now that we have legal clarity.
Badenoch said that Starmer should apologise to Rosie Duffield, the former Labour MP who quit the party because, she said, she was virtually ostracised for her gender critical views.
Phillipson says the government will protect women’s wards.
And it will soon publish guidance on how trans patients should be accommodated.
She goes on:
We will continue to protect women’s safety with single-sex accommodation in women’s sport …
So in our prisons, in our hospitals, in sport, in a whole host of other spaces, what was true before the ruling remains true after the ruling – this government protects safe spaces for women under the Equality Act 2010.
Phillipson says the heat on this issued was “dialed up” by the Tories.
Rishi Sunak made jokes at the expense of trans people, she says.
By contrast, she claims, the Labour government will ensure trans people are treated with respect.
Phillipson criticises Tories for not protecting single-sex spaces, particularly in hospitals
Phillipson turns to the Conservatives, and attacks their record.
Our work to protect single-sex bases across society continues in earnest,because, for far too long, under the Conservative government, single-sex spaces were anything but.
And nowhere is that clearer than in our hospitals. Year after year, the party opposite pledged to close mixed sex wars, and yet, year after year, their views not only persisted. It grew massively and year after year, often in their most vulnerable moments, women were denied the privacy and the dignity that they deserved time after time.
Phillipson says the supreme court’s judgment is “welcome”.
The Equality and Human Rightxs Commission is updating its code of practice to reflect the ruling, she says. The government will review that, she says
Phillipson tells MPs government will continue to protect single-sex spaces
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and minister for women and equality, is making her statement about the supreme court judgement.
She starts by saying this is personal for her.
Before I was elected to this place, I ran a women’s refuge in the north-east for women and children fleeing domestic violence. I know how important it is, and always want survivors to have single sex spaces, based on biology – places of safety after trauma, time in a sanctuary which allowed them therapeutic support, healing from unimaginable male violence and fear.
Phillipson says the government will continue to protect single-sex spaces, based on biological sex.
And it will protect “the rights of all people with protected characteristics now and always”.
Phillipson explains the background to the supreme court ruling.
The people who brought the legal challenge (gender critical feminists) were “not always been treated with the respect that they deserve”, she says.
She says the government supports freedom of speech. But, referring to the protests at the weekend against the judgment, she says “there can be no excuse for defacing statutes and feminist icons, no excuse for threats, no excuse for harassment”.
Updated
JK Rowling, the author and gender critical feminist campaigner who part-funded the legal challenge that led to last week’s supreme court judgment, has criticised Keir Starmer over his response to the ruling. She posted this on social media.
Imagine being such a coward you can only muster the courage to tell the truth once the Supreme Court has ruled on what the truth is.
John Healey will meet his Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday, as the British government gathers allies to chart a course towards peace in the war-torn country, PA Media reports. PA says:
The defence secretary told the House of Commons that ministers and officials, including from the US and European nations, would discuss “what a ceasefire might look like and how to secure peace in the long-term” when they meet on Wednesday.
Healey also slapped down Vladimir’s Putin’s claims that Russia had observed a promised Easter truce, telling MPs that British military intelligence had found no indication of a pause in fighting.
He told MPs: “I will be also meeting tomorrow the Ukrainian defence minister (Rustem) Umerov and other allies as the government brings together the US, the UK and European ministers, and national defence security advisers, to discuss next steps, including what a ceasefire might look like and how to secure peace in the long-term.
“This war was never just about the fate of one nation. It is about not allowing national borders to be redrawn by force, it is about preventing aggressors across the world from being emboldened to threaten the security of all nations.”
Britons opposed to Trump being allowed to address parliament by almost 3 to 1, poll suggests
‘Extinction-level event’: Tories fear voters turning to Reform in Lincolnshire
Ben Quinn has been in Lincolnshire, where the battle between the Conservative party and Reform UK in the local and mayoral elections is particularly intense. He says some Tories fear an “extinction-level event”. You can read his report here.
Rubbish levels in Birmingham now 'approaching normal', MPs told, due to efforts to clear bin strike backlog
Most of the excess rubbish accumulated in Birmingham as a result of the bin strike has been cleared, MPs have been told.
Jim McMahon, the communities minister, said that, even though the strike continues, “significant progress” has been made in clearing the backlog.
Responding to an urgent question tabled by the Conservatives, he said:
The government has repeatedly called for Unite to call off the strikes and accept the fair deal that’s on the table.
The commissioners and the council are undertaking necessary reforms in the context of a challenging financial situation – the legacy of equal pay where women workers were systematically paid less than their male counterparts for similar roles – and although of course the council must chart that course themselves, our actions speak to our determination for the welfare of the citizens of Birmingham.
We’ve been providing intensive support to the council in its efforts to address the backlog of waste that has been building up on the city’s streets and significant progress has been made in the last fortnight.
Through a concerted effort, and with the assistance of other councils, private operators and the endeavour of many hundreds of determined workers who have worked extremely long hours, the result is 26,000 tonnes of excess waste have been removed and the levels are now approaching normal.
More than 100 bin trucks are out every day and regular bin collections have resumed. The council continues to monitor the situation closely to ensure that waste does not build up again.
Prison officers to be allowed to use tasers under pilot scheme, Shabana Mahmood tells MPs
Prison officers in England and Wales will be allowed to use tasers under a pilot to see if this helps keep them safe, Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has announced.
Speaking during justice questions, she said the use of tasers will be piloted following the attack at HMP Frankland which saw guards attacked with hot oil and homemade weapons by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi.
Mahmood said:
The house will be aware of the attack at HMP Frankland on the 12 of April. The bravery of the officers involved that day undoubtedly saved lives, my thoughts are with them as they recover.
I think also of the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing and their families, who are understandably outraged.
Since the attack, I have suspended access to kitchens in separation centres and in close supervision centres. Alongside that, an independent review will ascertain how this incident was able to happen, what more must be done to protect prison staff and, more widely, how separation centres are run.
The Prison Service will also conduct a snap review of the use of protective bodily armour. In addition, I can today announced that HMPPS (HM Prison and Probation Service) will trial the use of tasers in our prisons.
Wherever we can strengthen our defences, to better protect our staff and the public, we will do so.
No 10 claims government does not routinely 'police toilets' as questions continue about impact of supreme court's ruling
At the afternoon lobby briefing Downing Street was again asked if the government was sticking with the regulations introduced by Kemi Badenoch intended to phase out the provision of unisex toilets. (See 1.33pm.) Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and minister for women and equalities, has suggested that last week’s supreme court judgment means more unisex toilets are needed, not fewer.
At the briefing, after explaining that the regulations say, the No 10 spokesperson quoted approvingly what Phillipson said in an interview this morning. (See 10.28pm.) Phillipson said that the government does not routinely “police toilets”, that firms like pubs should decide their policy and that they should ensure that “there is a safe and appropriate place for all people to use”.
But the fact that the regulations are in force means that in some respects the government does “police toilets”.
Phillipson is likely to be asked about this when she makes her statement to MPs. It should start around 5.20pm.
During justice questions in the Commons, Nic Dakin, a justice minister, told MPs that the Ministry of Justice is “reviewing all areas that could be potentially impacted on” by last week’s ruling from the supreme court on equality law.
Lib Dems say IMF report shows need for 'urgent rethink' in UK economic policy
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said that today’s IMF report (see 1.01pm) downgrading its growth forecasts for the UK (and the rest of the world) shows the need for an “urgent rethink” in British economic policy. In a statement, Davey said:
Donald Trump’s damaging trade war has taken a wrecking ball to the global economy, with the UK set to be badly hit.
The government needs to be working to boost trade with our allies in Europe and the Commonwealth and tackle Trump’s tariffs head on.
Simply sitting back and hoping we won’t be impacted hasn’t worked. It’s time for an urgent rethink before it’s too late.
In their statement, the Conservatives claimed that the IMF growth downgrade was an indictment of Keir Starmer’s policies. Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said:
The latest IMF outlook is a worrying indictment of Labour’s economic approach. Less than a year into their government, Britain is already seeing the consequences of Labour’s high-tax, high-spend agenda.
Roz McCall, a Scottish Conservative MSP, has written to the presiding officer of the Scottish parliament, suggesting that discplinary action should be taken against the Scottish Green MP Maggie Chapman over his comments about the supreme court. (See 12.51pm.) McCall says:
This afternoon, I have formally written to @POScotParl regarding the conduct of Maggie Chapman MSP following her comments concerning the verdict of the Supreme Court on the matter of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers (2024) UKSC 16.
MSPs have responsibilities under the Code of Conduct and a legal duty under the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008. We should always act to protect the independence of the judiciary and these comments threatened the integrity of our judges. It cannot be allowed to stand.
Trans people have experienced 'real anxiety' following supreme court judgment, MSPs told
Transgender people have experienced “real anxiety” since last week’s supreme court ruling on how women are defined in equality law, MSPs have been told.
Addressing the Scottish parliamment, Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Scottish government’s social justice secretary, said:
Stakeholders that represent trans and non-binary people are reporting real anxiety from their networks and service users and concerns about their daily lives.
It is significant that the supreme court stated that their judgment that the rights of the trans community are enshrined in law and I want to reassure our trans community that you are valued and the Scottish government is fully committed to protecting everyone’s rights and that includes your community.
Somerville said the Scottish government accepted the court’s ruling, which she described as “significant”. The government would “take time to consider it”, she said.
She confirmed that the government would amend its guidance on the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act that triggered the legal challenge that led to the supreme court judgment. (The original guidance said that a trans woman would count as a woman for the purposes of the gender representation rules.)
And Somerville also confirmed the Scottish government had “no plans” to bring back its gender recognition reform bill, which would have allowed self-ID for trans people wanting a gender recognition certificate and which was blocked by the UK government.
DUP criticises minister for suggesting opinion polls could determine whether referendum held on Irish reunification
Rory Carroll is the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent.
Debate over when, or if, Northern Ireland will have a referendum on a united Ireland has kindled back to life, possibly by accident.
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement says a secretary of state should call a referendum if it appears “likely” that most of those voting would choose to leave the UK. Successive Northern Ireland ministers, Tory and Labour, have been coy about the criteria, leaving plenty of wiggle room.
However when the public policy magazine agendaNi.com asked Fleur Anderson, the under-secretary of state, about the criteria she gave a clear answer: “It would be based on opinion polls.”
The London MP, who was appointed to the post after Labour’s victory last July, did not mention election results, or the proportion of nationalist and unionist councillors, assembly members and MPs, or demographic shifts.
The Northern Ireland Office appeared to distance itself from her response – and to restore the mist that shrouds the issue – by saying responsibility for a referendum sits solely with the secretary of state. “This has been — and remains — the only condition. The secretary of state has been clear that there is no evidence that this condition has been met.”
The DUP called Anderson’s remark “ill-considered” and pointed out that since 1998 support for Sinn Fein and the Social Democratic Labour party – representing the nationalist bloc – has remained static at around 38%.
Sinn Féin, in contrast, insists momentum is moving towards unity. A recent LucidTalk poll showed 48% of Northern Ireland voters wish to remain in the UK and 41% favour constitutional change – a gap that has significantly narrowed over the past decade.
IMF warns of ‘major negative shock’ from Trump’s tariffs, as it cuts its UK growth forecast from 1.6% to 1.1%
Donald Trump’s tariffs have unleashed a “major negative shock” into the world economy, the International Monetary Fund has said, as it cut its forecasts for US, UK and global growth. The IMF now says the UK is expected to grow by 1.1% this year, down from 1.6% predicted in January. Heather Stewart has the story.
No 10 says Starmer no longer argues trans women are women amid barrage of harsh questions at briefing
The Downing Street lobby briefing this morning provided a good illustration of why trans rights has become such a corrosive topic for Labour. Here are some of the questions from reporters that the PM’s spokesperson had respond to about last week’s supreme court ruling.
Q: Does the PM still believe a trans woman is a woman? No, the PM’s spokesperson replied. He said the supreme court had set out the position.
Q: Does the PM regret going further than that in past statements? The spokesperson said he could not comment on the PM’s views when he was in opposition.
Q: If the PM meets trans women, will he refer to them using their preferred pronouns? The spokesperson said he would not discuss hypotheticals, referred again to the ruling, but said trans people should be treated “with dignity and respect”.
Q: When did the PM change his mind on what constitutes a woman, or did he leave this up to the supreme court? The spokeperson said Starmer has previously said a woman is an adult female. When it was put to him that Starmer used to say a trans women are women, the spokesperson said he could only comment on what Starmer has said since he has been PM.
Q: Did the PM change his mind on what a woman is before he came into government? The spokesperson said that Starmer has repeatedly said a woman is an adult female.
Q: Does JK Rowling deserve an apology? The spokesperson said he would not comment on individuals.
Q: Why did it take the PM so long to comment on the supreme court ruling? The spokesperson said the government issued a response after the ruling came out. Today was the first time when Starmer was asked about it, he said.
There used to be something of a consensus on trans rights in UK politics. When Theresa May was PM in 2017, she proposed allowing people to change gender without the need for medical checks – something that even Labour has now moved away from. There is a thesis to be written on why opinion on this has shifted so swiftly.
Keir Starmer has said it is “incredibly humbling” to see the work being done by allied nations to train Ukrainian troops, PA Media reports. PA says:
The prime minister also praised the “resilience” of Ukrainians as he visited a military base alongside his New Zealand counterpart, Christopher Luxon, to see the work under Operation Interflex.
More than 54,000 Ukrainians have already received training under the programme.
Starmer said: “This is the second time I’ve come to see this training for the front line in Ukraine, and, just as with the first time, I find it incredibly humbling to see the training that is being done here.”
Addressing the other nations taking part in the training, including Australia and New Zealand, he added: “It’s really humbling, it’s incredibly professional. It could not be more important three years into this conflict, and it’s so important in terms of the training that’s being done.”
The prime minister also thanked the Ukrainians taking part in the programme and said it is “incredible to see the resilience and inspiration that you have”.
He added: “I think it’s incredible that all of the predictions at the beginning of this conflict were that the aggressor Russia would succeed very quickly, and they didn’t. Because of the resilience of the Ukrainians, because you fought back and forth for your country and fought for all of us in fighting for your country.”
As part of today’s visit, Starmer and Luxon are expected to instruct their respective defence ministers to begin work on a new defence partnership between the two nations, replacing the one signed in 2015. [See 12.19pm.]
Updated
In her Today programme interview this morning Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and minister for women and equalities, said the supreme court ruling meant that trans women should use male toilets. (See 9.55am.) In a later interview she gave a more nuanced answer, saying it was up to pubs to decide their own toilet policy. (See 10.28am.)
At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson sided with the first version of Phillipson’s answer. Asked what bathroom a trans person should use, the spokesperson replied:
They would use a bathroom consistent with their biological sex, as per the rule … That’s what the education secretary said this morning, and that’s what the court judgement makes clear – that all people should follow their biological sex when deciding what services they use.
No 10 refuses to commit to reversing Badenoch's law curbing supply of unisex toilets - despite minister hinting more needed
In her Today programme interview Kemi Badenoch defended not having firm policies on some issues by saying that the Conservatives are in opposition and that an election is not imminent. But, on the isssue of single-sex toilets, Badenoch is still exerting considerable influence over government policy.
That’s because in May last year, shortly before the general election, Badenoch said that the government was bringing in secondary legislation to mandate “single sex toilet facilities in new non-domestic buildings to alleviate safety, privacy and dignity concerns”. She announced it in a news release saying the new law would “halt the march of gender-neutral toilets in buildings”.
The regulations are here. Government officials have recently confirmed to the Guardian that they remain in force.
In her Today programme interview this morning, in her response to the question about which toilet a trans person should use, Bridget Phillipson suggested she wanted to see more gender-neutral provision in place. (See 9.55am.)
But the rules mandate the opposite. As the government explained in May last year:
Changes to building regulations will mean that new non-domestic buildings, including restaurants, shopping centres, offices and public toilets will be required to provide separate single-sex toilets for women and men. Self-contained, universal toilets may be provided in addition, where space allows, or instead of single-sex toilets where there isn’t enough space.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson was asked if the government planned to change the Badenoch regulations to make it easier for organisations to provide unisex toilets. The spokesperson said he was not aware of the regulations, although he said the regulations could be “updated as needed” following the court judgment.
He went on:
I think the court judgement provides clarity on something that’s already government policy, which is that single-sex spaces should be protected, will always be protected.
The ruling brings clarity and confidence to service providers, such as hospitals, refuges and sports clubs.
This answer suggests that government is happy with the current regulations.
Updated
Phillipson to make statement to MPs about supreme court ruling affecting law on single-sex spaces
There will be three ministerial statements in the Commons this afternoon, as well as an urgent questions. Here they are with rough timings.
3.30pm: A housing minister answers an urgent question from the Conservatives on the Birmingham bin strike.
Around 4.15pm: John Healey, the defence secretary, makes a statement on Ukraine.
Around 5.15pm: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretay and minister for women and equalities, makes a statement about last week’s supreme court ruling.
Around 6.15pm: Sarah Jones, a business minister, gives a statement on British Steel.
Faculty of Advocates criticises Scottish Green MSP over 'appalling' attack on supreme court
Maggie Chapman, a Scottish Green MSP and deputy convenor of the Scottish parliament’s equalities, human rights and civil justice committee, has been strongly condemned for remarks she made criticising the supreme court for its ruling on the definition of ‘a woman’ in equality law.
The Faculty of Advocates, the Scottish equivalent of the Bar Council, has released an open letter describing the comments as “appalling” and an attack on the independence of the judiciary.
In the letter, Roddy Dunlop KC, dean of the faculty, says:
It was with considerable concern and dismay that we read reports of Ms Chapman MSP addressing a public gathering in the wake of the recent ruling in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers. In video footage which is circulating widely online, she is seen to condemn what she claims is the “bigotry, prejudice and hatred that we see coming from the Supreme Court”.
These are appalling comments to come from any elected politician. They are all the worse when they come from someone who holds the post of Deputy Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee.
It really should not require to be said, but the Supreme Court – indeed, all judges – are in post to apply the law. They do not take sides. They decide without fear or favour, consistently with the judicial oath. For Ms Chapman to claim that they were swayed by “bigotry, prejudice and hatred” is outrageous. We are talking about the apex court of these islands, in this instance made up of a bench which included two of Scotland’s finest legal minds, as well as two women. No sensible person could read their dispassionate analysis and conclude that they were swayed by such matters.
Starmer to attend Pope's funeral, No 10 says
Keir Starmer will be attending the Pope’s funeral in Rome on Saturday, Downing Street has confirmed.
Jakub Krupa has full coverage of events following the Pope’s death, and preparations for the funeral, on his Europe live blog.
Trump should be allowed to address parliament when he visits UK, minister says
Some MPs and peers are calling for President Trump not to be invited to address parliament when he visits the UK. In 2017, during Trump’s first presidency, the then Speaker, John Bercow, vetoed a proposal for Trump to address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall.
In an interview with Times Radio this morning, Stephen Morgan, an education minister, said Trump should be allowed to give a speech in parliament. Asked if Trump should be allowed to address MPs and peers, Morgan said:
I look forward to the US president addressing parliament in due course.
Britain and New Zealand to extend defence cooperation, No 10 says
Keir Starmer has been visiting a military base with his New Zealand counterpart, Christopher Luxon, this morning to promote a joint training initiative for Ukrainian troops.
In an overnight news release about the visit, Downing Street says:
New Zealand trainers have worked alongside British counterparts to help train more than 54,000 soldiers on Operation Interflex, and New Zealand are expected to today confirm that they will extend their support for the initiative in the UK until the end of the year.
In addition to their support for training Ukrainian troops, military planners from the New Zealand Defence Force are contributing to the latest thinking and plans for post-conflict support for Ukraine through the Coalition of the Willing.
Prime Minister Starmer will also announce UK contracts worth £30m for drones produced by SYOS Aerospace, a New Zealand uncrewed vehicle manufacturer based in Hampshire to support Ukraine.
During the visit to see the training first hand, the leaders are expected to discuss plans to further step up defence and security cooperation, with defence ministers being instructed to work on a new joint defence partnership between both countries to ensure the relationship is fit for the twenty-first century.
Phillipson dismisses claims government not adequately funding school breakfast clubs
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has rejected claims that the government is not giving schools enough money to fund its breakfast clubs initiative. (See 10.37am.)
Commenting on the announcement, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, the union for school leaders, said:
While we welcome the intentions behind the programme, the initial feedback we are hearing from many school leaders participating in the pilot is that the funding just isn’t sufficient. At a time when school budgets are already stretched, most can ill-afford to subsidise this shortfall.
The basic funding for the initiative is worth 60p per pupil.
Asked about this criticism on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Phillipson said:
The funding that we’re putting in place is more generous than schemes that came before.
I’m afraid this 60p number that gets bandied about just isn’t right. That is the daily funding rate for children, but, alongside that, schools get an initial start-up grant, and they get a termly payment of £1,000. So it is more generous than that.
Badenoch has already 'thrown in towel' ahead of local elections, Lib Dems claim
The Liberal Democrats have claimed that Kemi Badenoch’s comments in her Today interview this morning (see 11.23am) show she is already admitting defeat in the local elections. Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:
Kemi Badenoch has already thrown in the towel before a single vote has been counted in next week’s local elections.
The Conservative party doesn’t have any answers on the big issues facing the country, because their fingerprints of failure are all over them.
Badenoch says she's 'not a career politician' as she plays down Tory prospects in local elections
Kemi Badenoch has described herself as an engineer, “not a career politician”, in an interview where she played down the Conservatives’ chances in next week’s local elections.
Speaking to the Today programme, she said that the elections would be “very difficult” for her party because most of the seats were last contested in 2021, when Boris Johnson was particularly popular as the Covid vaccine was being rolled out.
Badenoch said:
These elections are going to be very difficult for the Conservatives. Two-thirds of the seats four years ago we won – there’s no way we are going to be able to do that again.
When Amol Rajan, the presenter, put it to Badenoch that her party was being overtaken by Reform UK because people did not know what the Tories stood for, she said she completely disagreed.
Badenoch went on:
Four years ago people were asking Keir Starmer to resign. He had the worst results ever. He’d been leader for about a year and a half.
I’ve been doing this for five and a half months, and if you look at the time that lots of the previous oppositions have been in – 14 years, 13 years, 18 years – it’s going to take time to fix this.
Asked how the Conservatives would get more people off welfare and into work, Badenoch said she would take her time to make plans and that she would not be “making policy announcements on radio stations”.
She claimed that normal politicians were too willing to rush into decisions.
We’ve had lots of people winning with no plan. We have a Labour government, they won an election, they have no plan.
Asked about a ConservativeHome survey saying 55% of party members think the Tories should be developing new policy more quickly, Badenoch said she would stick to her approach.
I’m not going to be blown off course every time someone has a criticism. That is why things don’t get done properly.
I tell people that I’m not a career politician, I’m an engineer. You build a plan, you explain how it’s going to be done, and then you make sure that you deliver it. That is what I’m doing.
After leaving university in 2003, Badenoch worked as a computer engineer. She became an elected politician in 2015, when she joined the London assembly, and she was elected to parliament in 2017.
Home Office to publish nationalities of foreign criminals in UK
The nationalities of foreign criminals in the UK are due to be published for the first time, under plans to be disclosed by the Home Office. Rajeev Syal has the story.
Starmer says roll-out of breakfast clubs in primary schools in England will be 'game-changing moment' for families
Keir Starmer and Bridget Phillipson wanted to be talking mostly this morning about school breakfast clubs. As pupils return to school after the Easter holidays, the government is starting to roll out its policy of having breakfast clubs in primary schools in England.
Here is an extract from the Department for Education’s news release.
School mornings just got easier for families across the country as 750 schools open breakfast clubs today, offering 30 minutes of free childcare, a healthy start for kids and a little more breathing room before the school bell rings.
Parents will be supported with additional time at the start of the day to attend appointments, get to work on time and run errands. In total, this means parents will be able to save up to 95 additional hours and £450 per year if their child attends free breakfast clubs every day.
This amount rises to a saving of up to £8,000 every year when combining the free breakfast clubs with further support through the expansion of government-funded childcare and new school uniform cap on branded items.
In a statement, Starmer said this would be a “game-changing moment” for families.
The rollout of free breakfast clubs is a truly game-changing moment for families in this country. They mean parents will no longer be hamstrung by rigid school hours and have the breathing space they need to beat the morning rush, attend work meetings and doctors’ appointments, or run errands. And crucially, it means better life chances for children.
By making these clubs free and universal, we’re doing something that previous governments have never done. We’re going further and faster to deliver the change working families deserve. That’s the change this government was elected to deliver.
Phillipson urges firms to ensure 'safe and appropriate' toilets available for all, including trans people
In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and minister for women and equalities, criticised the behaviour of some of the activists who demonstrated against the supreme court’s trans ruling at the weekend.
Some statues were damaged during the protest in London, and some of the placards waved used extreme or inflammatory language.
Phillipson said:
What we have seen in recent days, where it comes to defacing of statues, some pretty terrible placards that have been displayed in protests around the country, it really is just completely unacceptable.
We need to move to a situation where we can just treat one another with dignity and respect, that, yes, we maintain single-sex spaces for women, absolutely, the ruling is clear, but trans people too have a right to live their lives free of harassment, free of discrimination.
I think that’s a pretty commonsense view that is held by the majority of the British people.
In the GMB interview, Phillipson was also asked what toilet a trans woman should use in a pub. Her reply was not as direct as it was in her earlier interview on the Today programme. (See 9.55am.) She said:
We don’t routinely police toilets and it’s for businesses, including pubs, to decide how they run their premises.
But I would hope that that business would make sure that there is a safe and appropriate place for all people to use, including trans people, who do deserve dignity and respect, let’s be clear.
Starmer says he is 'really pleased' supreme court has given 'much-needed clarity' on definition of 'woman' in equalities law
Keir Starmer has been under pressure for days to comment on the supreme court ruling, particularly from the rightwing papers. Yesterday the Daily Mail even splashed on a story saying he “must break his silence”. His opponents want to embarrass him over the issue because of his past comments supporting more rights for trans people, including one interview when he said it was “not right” to say only women have a cervix.
This morning, in interviews during a school visit in Bath, Starmer said he was “really pleased” the supreme court had clarified the law on the definition of a woman. He told the BBC:
I welcome the decision of the supreme court, which has given us clarity, much-needed clarity, and I think for those that are now drawing up guidance, it’s a much clearer position.
So I’m really pleased that the court has now clarified the position.
We can move on from there and I think that’s been very helpful, and I would welcome that.
Asked if a trans woman was a woman, Starmer replied:
I think the supreme court has answered that question.
Asked if that meant he did not believe a transwoman is a woman, Starmer said:
A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear.
I actually welcome the judgment because I think it gives real clarity. It allows those that have got to draw up guidance to be really clear about what that guidance should say.
So I think it’s important that we see the judgment for what it is. It’s a welcome step forward.
It’s real clarity in an area where we did need clarity, I’m pleased it’s come about.
We need to move and make sure that we now ensure that all guidance is in the right place according to that judgment.
Updated
Supreme court ruling means trans women should use male toilets, says equalities minister Bridget Phillipson
Good morning. The Easter recess is over, parliament is back today, and one consequence is that ministers can no longer avoid awkward questions about the implications of last week’s supreme court ruling saying that, when the Equality Act refers to women, it just means biological women and does not include trans women, even with a gender recognition certificate.
Delivering the ruling, Lord Hodge said the decison should not be seen as a “triumph” for one side in the debate about trans rights at the expense of another. That turned out to be wishful thinking, because gender critical ferminists, and their supporters in the media, have been treating this as a decisive victory. For most Labour ministers, the case was an uncomfortable reminder of an issue they would rather not talk about because they have pulled back considerably from the ‘trans women are women’ very pro-trans positions they (and some Conservatives too) were adopting only a few years ago.
The “gotcha” question for Labour ministers on trans issues from a hostile media used to be ‘can a woman have a penis?’. After last week’s judgment, it became, ‘what toilet should a trans person use?’ In interviews last week Karin Smyth, a health minister, ducked the question. The Daily Mail, a paper that in normal circumstances would be the first to denounce nanny state ministers passing laws telling people what toilets to use, said Smyth was squirming as she dodged the question.
But today Bridget Phillipson, who is minister for women and equalities as well as being education secretary, told the Today programme that a trans woman should use the men’s toilets. Asked which toilet trans people should use, she replied:
That should be on the basis of biological sex. That would apply right across the board to all single sex provision.
But she also said the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) would be setting out guidance on this issue. And she said firms should consider having unisex provision in place.
I know that many businesses, large and small, will ensure that they have appropriate provision in place. For example, many businesses have moved towards unisex provision or separate cubicles that can be used by anyone.
Currently many, or most, trans people do use toilets corresponding to their gender, not their biological sex, and they point out that normally this happens without anyone objecting, or even noticing. Last week, after Kishwer Falkner, chair of the EHRC, gave an interview also saying the supreme court ruling meant trans women should have to use male toilets, trans activists accused her of overreach.
Telling trans women to use male toilets would make a big change for some people. This is what a policy document from the Metropolitan police was saying on this topic only three years ago.
If someone (whether binary or non-binary) presents as, say, female then they use the female toilet and vice versa. There is no law or policy prohibiting anyone from using whichever toilet matches their gender identity, and a trans* individual cannot be ordered to use a toilet that they feel uncomfortable using. A trans* person does not need to “prove” their right to use the toilet in anyway, including producing a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer visits a military training base with Christopher Luxon, the New Zealand PM, as tney discuss a joint initiative to train Ukrainian solidiers. Starmer is due to give media interviews.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2pm: The IMF publishes its latest world economic outlook, including revised growth forecasts for the UK.
2.30pm: Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
After 3.30pm: A minister is expected to make a Commons statement about last week’s supreme court judgment about the definition of woman in the Equality Act, and about policy relating to trans people.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Updated
