A woman is a grown woman, says Sir Keir Starmer.

Sir Keir Starmer says the Labor Party has had time to think about its gender policy. Photo: Jacob King/PA

A woman is a 'grown woman', said Sir Keir Starmer, reaffirming the Labor Party's tough stance on gender issues.

The Labor leader said he did not see self-identification as the 'right way forward' «. «, and that he believes that «the principle of safe spaces is very important for women.»

The Labor leader had previously promised to change the law to allow transgender people to self-declare gender, mirroring plans from SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon that were later blocked Rishi Sunakom.

However, the leader of the opposition said the party had a «chance to reflect» on what happened in Scotland during the National Policy Forum meeting in Nottingham over the weekend and added: «We don't think self-identification is the right way forward.»

He said live on BBC Radio 5: «We want to modernize the process, get rid of some of the humiliation in the process, keep the medical process going.»

Sir Keir has been trying to clarify his views on gender since 2021 when he struggled to say if a woman can have a penis. This year, he said that 99.9% of women «do not have a penis.»

It looks like he went even further, telling Niki Campbell on Wednesday, «First of all, a woman is a grown woman, so let's get that out of the way.»

Safe Places for Women< /p>

He also said that the weekend meeting allowed the party to clearly define its position on safe spaces, as he told Campbell: «We have always said and continue to say, and Sunday, when we concluded our political forum, allowed us it is clear that there must be safe places, safe places for women.”

When asked if women would be adequately protected in safe places where there are transgender people, Sir Keir said: «I think the Scottish prisoner case probably answers that question.»

Sir Keir , apparently referring to the case of Isla Bryson, a convicted double rapist who had a sex change while awaiting trial and was initially placed in a women's prison after the verdict. before being transferred to a men's prison.

Labour Party Chair Anneliese Dodds wrote in The Guardian on Monday to insist that «sex and gender are different» and set out the party's new position after the political forum, acknowledging that it is «not to everyone's liking».

The LGBT pressure group Labor responded in a statement saying it was «very disturbing» that the party was «signaling a retreat from its medical self-identification policy for the trans community on next general election,» but left-wing gender-critical activists welcomed the change.