MP Rosie Duffield wants meeting with Sir Keir Starmer over transgender debate
- Published
A Labour MP wants a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer to clarify where the party stands on transgender issues.
Rosie Duffield, who has clashed with campaigners over her views on self identification for trans people, said the party's position was unclear.
But a senior Labour MP said it was "being used as a wedge issue" when the party should be focused elsewhere.
Ms Duffield also confirmed she would not attend this week's party conference after online threats to her safety.
The abuse has been widely condemned by politicians and activists, who called it "utterly unacceptable".
Last week, Labour's shadow equalities minister Marsha de Cordova resigned from her post, saying she wanted to focus more of her time in her marginal constituency of Battersea, and shadow women's minister Charlotte Nichols also stepped down.
It is not known if the debate within the party over transgender issues had anything to do with their resignations, but it leaves a gap on the party's frontbench when it comes to issues of equality and women's rights.
Canterbury MP Ms Duffield has regularly used social media to outline her own position on transgender issues.
She believes that biological females should have protected spaces where biological males are not allowed to go, such as domestic violence refuges and prisons, and she is against people being able to self-identify as trans to gain access to those spaces.
Ms Duffield has said she is "completely supportive of trans rights", but she has been condemned by some LGBT+ groups for her position - which say trans men and women should be treated the same as biological men and women - as well as for endorsing controversial tweets on the issue.
And two of her staff members resigned, external from her office over her views.
A senior Labour MP, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC they were frustrated with the "oxygen" being given to the subject, calling it "a stupid, pointless, manufactured row about rights" that was distracting from the issues that needed debating.
They added: "Let's talk about how every single trans person awaiting NHS treatment is having their rights to see a specialist in 18 weeks under the NHS constitution breached, for example, rather than whether Rosie Duffield thinks everyone should have their genitals and chromosomes checked to go to the toilet."
'It always turns to violence'
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Duffield said she and other female MPs had asked for a meeting with Sir Keir to discuss transgender rights and women-only spaces, but it had not yet taken place.
"Lots of women have been asking to meet with Keir Starmer in groups or one-to-one about this issue and obviously he is incredibly busy, but it would be good to just clarify what our position is as a party and just to discuss how we go forward with this issue," she said.
"He's always positive about trying to organise a meeting, it just hasn't happened yet. I think it is really necessary that we actually talk about this."
Asked what sort of threats she had received as a result of her views, Ms Duffield said the "levels of vitriol are pretty horrible".
She added: "Women have every right to voice their opinions. I have seen tweets by male colleagues that have been identical to mine about Labour policy for example, and the comments under mine and other women's tweets are very different.
"This is is a cross-party issue. All women in public life, anyone who puts their head above the parapet... just gets abuse for the way we look, what we say and it is really horrible and it always turns to violence when its women.
"We always get the violence, pictures of guns, pictures of mocked up nooses, that's the kind of thing we get on social media."
Analysis
By Ione Wells, BBC political correspondent
There are two key issues at play here.
Firstly, Rosie Duffield has taken a stance on an emotive topic that gives rise to controversy, around people's identities, the right to self-identify and gain access to certain spaces.
That has, and will, open her up to scrutiny, as taking any strong opinion in politics can do.
That is particularly the case with this issue when there are live debates around whether gender recognition laws need to be changed.
Secondly, what politicians of all stripes agree on is that no one in public life should fear for their safety if some critics turn legitimate criticism into abuse.
Online abuse of women in public life, and the threat of this translating into offline abuse, is also nothing new.
So while Labour clarifying to MPs its stance on self-identification may help resolve internal party conflicts over this topic, it's not clear - or likely - this would prevent people like Rosie Duffield and other women in public life receiving online and real-life threats.
After the news Ms Duffield would not be attending the Labour Party conference in Brighton was reported by the Sunday Times, external, a number of public figures spoke out against the abuse she had received.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said too many people had been "targeted for their opinion or the office they hold", adding: "In order to protect democracy, we need to ensure those participating can do so without threats of intimidation."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said it was "unacceptable" she felt unsafe, telling the BBC's Andrew Marr: "We must be able to have this conversation in a civilised way."
Sadiq Khan: "It's unacceptable that anybody feels unsafe going to Labour Party conference"
And the LGBT+ Labour group put out a statement, saying it "totally condemns the abuse and physical threats" the MP had faced.
It added: "We have made clear our political disagreements with Rosie on policy affecting trans people, but political disagreement should never result in abuse or physical threats. It is utterly unacceptable."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, also took to Twitter to speak out against the abuse, posting: "Absolutely everybody has the right to be safe from abuse, threat or harm. That includes Rosie Duffield and the transgender community.
"It's about time we looked for our shared humanity in our dealings with others, rather than the division."