Labour MP Rosie Duffield accuses Keir Starmer of ignoring her after she was jeered by her OWN side for opposing Scottish gender law - as party leader continues to refuse to say if he backs government plan to block legislation
- Falconer said PM's use of devolved powers over Scots law was not justified
- Blocking Gender Recognition Reform Act from receiving Royal Assent
- Canterbury MP was heckled for their support of blocking new gender legislation
- Rosie Duffield spoke about the 'the strength of feeling' among Scottish women
A Labour MP today accused Sir Keir Starmer of ignoring her after she was jeered by party colleagues in the Commons for opposing a Scottish gender law.
Rosie Duffield said the party leader hasn't been in touch since she was abused during a debate yesterday for saying the Gender Recognition Reform Act would allow men identifying as women into domestic violence settings, changing rooms and prisons'.
Labour's split over gender rights deepened today with a former justice minister described Rishi Sunak planned veto of the Scottish law as 'a nuclear weapon used in a minor skirmish'.
Lord Falconer, who was Lord Chancellor under Tony Blair, said the Prime Minister's use of devolved powers to block it from receiving Royal Assent was not justified.
But Sir Keir continued to try to sit on the fence between the two wings of his party. He told the BBC at the weekend he would make a decision after seeing 'what they put on the table this week'.
He admitted to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg he disagreed with parts of the Scottish law involving lowering the age at which people can legally change gender to 16.
But a spokesman for the Labour leader today said he wanted to see the government's legal advice - which it is not planning to publish - before making a decision.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield was jeered in the Commons as she backed the Government's decision to block the Scottish parliament's gender identification legislation
She said the party leader hasn't been in touch since she was the target of abuse
Lord Falconer, who was Lord Chancellor under Tony Blair, said the Prime Minister's use of devolved powers to stop Holyrood's Gender Recognition Reform Act from receiving Royal Assent was not justified.
Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has yet to publicly reveal where he stands on the legal move. On Sunday he said he disagreed with parts of the Scottish law involving lowering the age at which people can legally change gender to 16.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also put pressure on Sir Keir party leader by saying the move to block the legislation was the 'wrong approach'. Mr Sarwar's party voted in favour of the law change.
Ms Duffield was attacked after asking the Scottish secretary Alister Jack to 'recognise the strength of feeling amongst women, women's rights' groups and activists in Scotland, that this Bill seeks to allow anyone at all to legally self-identify as either sex and therefore enter all spaces, including those necessarily segregated by sex, such as domestic violence settings, changing rooms and prisons'.
She had to raise her voice as she was heckled by Labour and SNP MPs who support the Scottish plan.
Former Labour cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw shouted 'absolute rubbish' as she spoke, while fellow Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle also appeared to be trying to shout her down.
This afternoon, asked by GB Nws if she was being supported by the party, she said: 'It depends what you mean by support.
'Whenever this issue comes up on television, there are people in the Labour Party's head office who write lines for the Labour Party shadow cabinet who go on television and answer that question about whether I'm being supported.
'None of them ask me, they don't ask me if I'm being supported and somebody in an office writes a line for a Labour MP, saying I'm being supported. I'm not sure what that means.
'I haven't heard from Keir. The people in the shadow cabinet don't approach me and ask me if I'm okay or what they can do and they don't discuss this issue with me.
In a series of tweets last night Lord Falconer outlined his opposition to the move. Whether the s35 Order is justified depends on reasons advanced by (the government) for saying (the new law) has adverse effect on UK equality law,' he said.
'For the reasons I have tweeted those reasons do not begin to justify its use. It's a nuclear weapon used in a minor skirmish.'
Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has already branded the move a 'full-frontal attack on our democratically-elected Scottish Parliament and its ability to make its own decisions on devolved matters'.
She told the BBC the decision will 'inevitably end up in court'. In Westminster, the UK Government was understood to be braced for drawn-out legal wrangling.
Ms Sturgeon was yesterday accused of 'weaponising vulnerable children', as she vowed to take the Government to court for blocking gender self-identification.
Amid angry scenes in the Commons, Tory MPs claimed the SNP was stoking the row about trans rights in a cynical 'pursuit of their separatist agenda'.
The accusation came as the SNP leader vowed to fight the Government all the way to the Supreme Court over its 'outrageous' decision to veto a Scottish parliament law, the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, that paved the way for gender self-identification. She said the row would 'inevitably end up in court'.
Ms Sturgeon accused the Government of mounting 'a direct attack on... Scottish parliament', adding: 'If it is allowed to happen on this, then I think that is a very slippery slope.'
The Scottish secretary told MPs the decision to block the bill followed legal advice it would have 'serious adverse effects' on provisions in the Equality Act that guarantee women's access to single-sex spaces.
The prominent Labour MP asked the Scottish secretary Alister Jack to 'recognise the strength of feeling amongst women, women's rights' groups and activists in Scotland'
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack told MPs the decision to block the bill followed legal advice it would have 'serious adverse effects' on provisions in the Equality Act
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