Wes Streeting wants to make 'health inequalities' a priority; that affect women and ethnic communities. Photo: Typhoon Salchi/Alamy Live News
Wes Streeting called on the NHS to stop doing «stupid things» in the name of diversity as he vowed biological sex would matter under a Labor government.
Shadow Minister Health has insisted it will prioritize tackling health issues that affect women, black and minority ethnic groups rather than «direct» initiatives focused on inclusive language.
Mr Streeting's remarks are his strongest criticism yet of NHS chiefs for cutting back on references to the word «women» and gender language in official guidance.
Labour abandoned trans self-identification in July last year after of how Sir Keir Starmer promised to change the law to allow people to declare their gender themselves.
In an interview with the Telegraph political newsletter, Mr Streeting said: “When people read about the NHS doing stupid things like removing any language that specifically refers to women from NHS documents in the name of inclusivity… These are clearly hackers and this should not be done.
“We also have to keep in mind that black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women, and black men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than white men. . And when it comes to a disease as common as endometriosis, women wait more than seven years for a diagnosis.
“That's why I want diversity and equity to focus on how we address these health disparities, not whether people are right and do stupid things—well-meaning things—in the name of diversity and inclusion.” .
At least 19 pages about women's health on the NHS website either do not mention women at all, or do so only in addition to non-gendered language.
'Biology matters'
When asked whether he believes that a trans woman is a woman, Mr. Streeting responded: “I have no problem calling trans women women, using she/her pronouns and treating them with respect.”
“We make this distinction between women and trans women, and in health care and health care delivery this is especially important. Because biology matters, sex matters, and in relation to the information the NHS provides to patients, we must distinguish between sex and gender.»
Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Streeting said he would take a «very pragmatic» approach to the private sector and not be ashamed to use its power to reduce waiting lists.
Reiterating Labor's support for Rishi Sunak's planned cigarette ban — which would mean the selling age would rise by one year every year, and which some Conservative backbenchers oppose — he vowed to «hit like a ton of bricks» on the vaping industry.
'Agonizing' over assisted dying
Asked whether he would legalize assisted dying for terminally ill patients, Mr Streeting said it was one of the «rare examples» of a policy issue «on which I struggled and continue to struggle with what the right thing to do was.”
“Watching two grandmothers slowly and painfully die from cancer, there were moments when I just wanted the pain to stop… But I think that it too is riddled with a huge risk of coercion and people feeling compelled to take their own lives.
“And that’s before we even get to the religious and philosophical issues. But I think this is a debate that is worth having now, and if it ever comes up again, there will be a free vote on this issue, because it is a matter of conscience.»
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