India Willoughby has accused Rishi Sunak of sanctioning the persecution of trans people in an exclusive interview with The London Economic.
The world’s first transgender national newsreader slammed comments made by the prime minister during his speech at the Tory conference in which he claimed the public had been “bullied” into believing that “people can be any sex they want to be.”
Sunak, who added that “men are men” and “women are women”, reiterated plans announced on Tuesday that could see trans women banned from female hospital wards in an apparent shift to the right wing of his party.
Reviled by voters across the UK, the PM’s address followed a speech by Suella Braverman who railed against “gender ideology” and “white privilege”, adding: “The evidence demonstrates that if you don’t challenge this poison, things just get worse.”
Her remarks drew criticism from a Conservative London Assembly member who was removed from the conference venue after quietly hitting out at the home secretary’s “fictitious” take on issues involving gender.
Speaking to reporters as he was being led away, Andrew Boff said Braverman had made the Conservative Party “look transphobic and homophobic” and accused her of “vilifying gay and trans people”.
Research reveals the UK is heading backwards on transgender rights in a sign that anti-trans hatred has already seeped into the government’s agenda, pushing us below countries across Europe and Asia.
According to the Trans Rights Index, which has been collecting data for more than a decade, the UK dropped from number one in 2013, to 21st for trans rights.
There were 54 countries from Europe and Central Asia featured in analysis by Transgender Europe, which found the UK is one of 14 countries that did not have legal gender recognition “consistently available”.
Speaking to The London Economic, Willoughby said it is “absolutely preposterous” for the prime minister to claim the trans community is “bullying the government” over gender identity, adding: “What we’re experiencing at the moment is effectively state-sanctioned persecution.
“If you tell a lie often enough then some people do start to believe it, and that is the tactic that the Tories are pushing. They have nothing else,” she added.
“Usually coming up to an election, a Conservative government would be in the business of bribes. They would be proffering money at their target audience in the form of tax cuts or inducements.
“But they can’t do that because we’re skint, there is no money left – they frittered it away. So they have to find something else to hone in on to take away the attention from the ineffectiveness over the years.”
Watch the full clip below:
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