By Sam Francis & Henry ZeffmanBBC Politics7 February 2024, 12:58 GMTUpdated 18 minutes agoVideo caption, Watch: Sunak makes trans jibe to Starmer at PMQsRishi Sunak is being urged to apologize after making a remark about Labour’s stance on trans individuals while the mother of Brianna Ghey, a transgender murder victim, was present in Parliament. During Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr. Sunak mocked Sir Keir Starmer for reversing his position on the “definition of a woman.”Sir Keir, visibly angered, stated: “Of all the weeks to say that when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber.”However, No 10 insisted that it was acceptable to question the Labour leader’s position. When asked if the prime minister’s comment was transphobic, his press secretary rejected the notion. Although Esther, Brianna Ghey’s mother, was not present in the public gallery during the exchange, she entered shortly afterward.Listing what he perceived as Labour’s policy reversals, Mr. Sunak claimed Sir Keir had altered his position on “defining a woman – although, to be fair, that was only 99% of a U-turn.”This referred to an interview in which Sir Keir had stated “99.9% of women haven’t got a penis.”In response, Sir Keir exclaimed: “Of all the weeks to say that, when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber. Shame.”Portraying himself as a man of integrity when he’s not responsible at all.”Subsequently, Mr. Sunak disregarded a call from Labour MP Liz Twist to “apologize to Brianna Ghey’s mother.”However, at the end of the session, the prime minister stated that Ms. Ghey embodied “the very best of humanity” for the “compassion” she displayed after her 16-year-old daughter was murdered by two teenagers with a penchant for violence.He added that the murder “was an unspeakable and shocking tragedy.”A spokeswoman for Sir Keir remarked: “We don’t believe the country wants or deserves a prime minister who is willing to use minorities as a target for criticism.”The comments were deeply hurtful to trans individuals. He should reconsider his response and apologize.”Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch criticized Sir Keir, stating that it was “shameful” for him “to link his own inability to be clear on the matter of sex and gender” to Ms. Ghey’s grief. “Every murder is a tragedy. None should be minimized for political gain,” the Tory MP wrote on X. Video caption, Chancellor questioned on whether PM made trans joke at PMQsChancellor Jeremy Hunt denied that Mr. Sunak had made a minority group “a punchline for a joke” and refrained from expressing whether he thought the PM should apologize. “The prime minister couldn’t have been clearer about the enormous respect he holds for Brianna Ghey’s mother,” he told the BBC. “What he meant is that on the crucial issues of the day, Labour and Sir Keir Starmer simply cannot make up their minds.”Nonetheless, some Conservative MPs condemned the prime minister’s remarks. Dehenna Davison stated that it was “disappointing to hear jokes being made at the trans community’s expense.” “As politicians, it’s our responsibility to defuse such debates and focus on finding sensible ways forward, while ensuring those involved are treated with respect,” the MP for Bishop Auckland wrote on X. Jamie Wallis, who was the first MP to publicly disclose that he had gender dysphoria and is in the process of transitioning, expressed: “I know from my own interactions with the prime minister that today’s display of insensitivity must have been inadvertent. “Today has been a tough day for me, but all I can think about right now is Brianna’s mother. Let us all think of her as we choose how to progress with this debate.”Another Tory MP, Elliot Colburn, expressed disappointment with the events during PMQs. “I’d rather every politician stopped using trans issues as an electoral issue,” he stated on BBC Radio 4’s PM program. “[Trans people] have never asked to be part of this very toxic conversation, so we need to stop it.”Image source, Family handoutImage caption, Brianna Ghey’s mother Esther is calling for mindfulness to be part of the school curriculum to teach children to be more empatheticMs. Ghey was in the Houses of Parliament to attend a debate on mindfulness in schools, organized by her local MP Charlotte Nichols. She also met with Sir Keir after Prime Minister’s Questions. Mr. Sunak had been informed that Ms. Ghey was in the public gallery watching PMQs, but she arrived around 15 minutes after it began.The PM’s spokesperson declined to confirm whether a government minister would meet with Ms. Ghey during her visit to Parliament. Ms. Ghey briefly conversed with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan after both appeared on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg program. Brianna was murdered after being enticed to a park near her home by a school friend, in a stabbing partly motivated by hostility toward Brianna due to her transgender identity.
