Sir Keir Starmer says Supreme Court ruling 'gives clarity' that 'a woman is an adult female'

Commenting publicly for the first time on last Wednesday's decision, the prime minister said the judgment provided "clarity" that "a woman is an adult female".

All five judges at the UK's highest court unanimously ruled the legal definition of a woman under the Equality Act 2010 should be based on biological sex.

The ruling has caused consternation among some politicians and tens of thousands of people protested in central London on Saturday against what they said was a "betrayal" of the trans community.

But the prime minister, who previously said "transwomen are women", said the court had provided clarity and public services now needed to ensure their guidance was "in the right place according to that judgment".

Asked if he believed a transwoman should be considered a woman, Sir Keir told ITV West Country: "A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear."

Later on Tuesday, after addressing troops at a Wiltshire Army base, he said: "I welcome the court's decision and ruling.

"I think it's very important that we've now got real clarity, which is going to be really helpful for, I think, everybody going forward, particularly those that have to deal with putting in place guidance."

The prime minister said the decision will enable the government and service providers to ensure guidance "is in the right place".

"And to reaffirm something that I long for, which is about safe spaces for women," he added.

"That's always been really important. And so that's contained within the ruling as well. So I welcome all of it."

Sir Keir's position appears to have evolved over the years.

In 2020, he said the LGBT+ Labour campaign had his full support, including a pledge to introduce a gender self-declaration process and to support that "trans women are women, that trans men are men".

Then in September 2021, Sir Keir went up against one of his MPs, Rosie Duffield (now an independent after quitting the party) when he said it was "not right" to say only women have a cervix.

But in 2023, Labour performed a u-turn when it ruled out introducing a self-ID system.

-SKY NEWS