Suella Braverman is “categorically not fit for any public office” following her comments about trans people, India Willoughby has said.
In an exclusive interview with The London Economic, the world’s first trans newsreader claimed the home secretary is part a government “which is all about demonisation of people and hate.”
Her comments follow a speech by Braverman at the Tory Party conference during which she railed against “gender ideology”, claiming people are “chased out of their jobs for saying that a man can’t be a woman.”
Six cabinet ministers used their time on the podium to draw attention to trans and gender issues, a sign the party could rely heavily on the topic as it gears up for another general election.
The home secretary also backed proposals announced by health secretary Steve Barclay that could see trans women treated in separate hospital wards in a bid to restore what he described as “common sense” to the NHS.
“The health secretary’s absolutely right to clarify and make it clear that biological men should not have treatment in the same wards and in the same safe spaces as biological women,” she said.
Braverman’s conference speech is not the first time she’s attacked the trans and non-binary community.
In May, she used a highly partisan address at the National Conservatism Conference in May to claim “100% of women do not have a penis”.
Meanwhile, in an exchange in the House of Commons on gender identity, she claimed Keir Starmer couldn’t be “ruled out from running as Labour’s first woman prime minister”.
Braverman’s comments follow a worrying rise in hate crimes against the trans community, which the Home Office itself warned could partly be the result of public discussion by politicians.
While the overall number of hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales has fallen year-on-year for the first time in a decade, those motivated by religious and transgender hate have risen.
Figures reveal a total of 145,214 offences were recorded in the two nations in the year ending March 2023, down 5 per cent from 153,536 in the previous 12 months.
Religious hate crimes were up by 9 per cent to 9,387 offences, while transgender hate crimes increased by 11 per cent, to 4,732 offences.
“It might just be sound bites to the likes of Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman throwing out all these dog whistles, but they have a real world impact,” Willoughby told The London Economic.
“This is a government that functions purely on its own twisted, warped, wretched ideology, which is all about demonisation and hate.
“The government doesn’t value anything about trans people. It doesn’t recognise us. It doesn’t acknowledge us, and it shows us no respect whatsoever.”
Watch the full clip below.
Related: Barclay ‘playing politics at expense of people’s health’ amid trans plan
