Sir Keir Starmer has defended the Labor Party’s record on gender equality after JK Rowling accused the party of “abandoning women”.
The Downing Street hopeful said he was “proud” of his party’s record on the issue after the Harry Potter author wrote a 2,000-word essay in The Times criticizing his views.
IN Rowling has been outspoken in her belief that biological women should be able to have separate spaces, which trans women – who were born male – should not have access to.
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In the article, she said she would “fight” to vote for Labor in the election, having donated to the party in the past, because of its “despicable” stance on the issue and had a “negative opinion” of the character of the party leader. .
Answering, Mr Keir said: “I’m really proud of the Labor Party’s long history of making real progress on women’s rights, passing landmark legislation that has changed millions of lives.
“Now this battle never ends and we need to make more progress, which we hope to do if we win voters’ trust in the general election.”
On transgender rights, he said a Labor government would look for a “reset” moment “to ensure that, as we progress, we do so in a context that brings people together”.
In her article, Rowling was offended by Sir Keir calling Labor candidate Rosie Duffield “wrong” after she said in 2021 that only women have a cervix.
At the time, he said her comments were “something that shouldn’t be said. It’s not right.”
Sir Keir was asked about this statement in a recent debate between leaders, when he said he agreed with his predecessor. Mr Tony Blair that women have vaginas and men have penises.
Rowling said she felt the Labor leader gave “the impression that until Tony Blair sat him down for a chat, he had never understood how he and his wife had produced children”.
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She claimed Mrs. Duffield, who last week announced that she has withdrawn from soapbox events because she does not feel safe, she has received “literally no support from Starmer over the threats and abuse, some of which originated within the Labor Party itself”.
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And she claimed that Sir Keir gave the impression that Duffield took a hard line “even though almost identical words seemed perfectly reasonable when spoken by Tony Blair”.
She said: “As long as the Labor Party remains dismissive and often offensive towards women fighting to maintain the rights that their ancestors thought were won forever, I will fight to support them.
“The women who didn’t want to (keep quiet) didn’t leave Labor. Labor abandoned them.”
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