JOHN Swinney has said Keir Starmer is being influenced by the “front pages of some newspapers” when it comes to his position on gender issues.
The Labour leader said on Monday he is opposed to "gender ideology" being taught in schools, insisting he would not rip up a proposed ban on educating children about the subject in England and Wales.
Swinney, who attended a Pride march in Edinburgh at the weekend, said he was “surprised” at Starmer’s stance, adding he felt he was being guided by the position of many newspapers rather than “doing the right thing”.
Asked about Starmer’s position, Swinney told The National: “I’m a bit surprised about that because I heard his shadow education secretary [Bridget Phillipson] on the [Laura] Kuenssberg programme yesterday saying something very different.
“What that possibly says to me is that Keir Starmer is influenced by the position that’s set out on the front pages of some newspapers rather than what’s the right thing to do.”
When asked if she would ditch the proposed ban on teaching about the concept of gender identity, Phillipson (below) told the BBC she wants to stop this being a “political football” or a “culture wars” issue.
She said: “We absolutely do need to see guidance, the Labour government – if we win the trust of the British people – will make sure that happens, but let’s make sure children’s wellbeing is at the heart of this.
“Let’s stop this being a political football. This is our children’s lives, their wellbeing, it’s too important to make this a culture wars issue on the front pages of newspapers. Let’s take a more responsible approach, give schools the clear guidance that they need and make sure our young people are supported as well.”
Swinney – who was the education secretary who encouraged the introduction of LGBT inclusive teaching in Scotland – said he trusted education professionals to judge what is appropriate to be teaching young people on gender ideology.
He added: “I was the education secretary who encouraged the introduction of LGBT inclusive education within Scottish schools.
“I think that’s important as part of our overall approach relationships education in our schools because young people have got to be given appropriate educational insight into these questions. These are important societal questions.
“Now, what’s appropriate to discuss with a 16 year old is completely different to what is appropriate to discuss with an eight year old and I trust education professionals to essentially come to those conclusions.”
The Department for Education’s draft guidance for schools in England and Wales, published last month, states that schools should not teach about the concept of gender identity.
Students should be taught the law on gender reassignment, the revised guidance said, but if asked about the topic of gender identity, schools should “teach the facts about biological sex and not use any materials that present contested views as fact, including the view that gender is a spectrum”.
Elsewhere on Monday, Labour’s Rachel Reeves said the party would meet Harry Potter author JK Rowling to provide her with “assurances” over the protection of women-only spaces.
The shadow chancellor made the offer after Rowling said at the weekend that Labour had “abandoned” her and others campaigning for women’s rights.
The author, a former member of the Labour Party who has made donations to them in the past, said she would “struggle to support them” in next week’s General Election.
Rowling has become known as a fierce advocate for the rights of biological women after speaking out against Scottish Government proposals to introduce self identification for transgender people.
While gender recognition reforms were passed by Holyrood, the legislation was never implemented after being blocked by the UK Government.
