The Labour party must have “respect and tolerance” in the face of differing opinions on gender, Keir Starmer has said after Rosie Duffield’s claim she felt ostracised by the party because of her views.
Duffield last week accused male party colleagues of trying to shout her down in the Commons when she spoke to back the government’s move to block gender reforms proposed in Scotland.
She later wrote that being in the Labour party reminded her of a former abusive relationship after she faced criticism for her position on the issue.
Duffield’s comments came after the vote in Scotland to allow transgender people to obtain a gender recognition certificate through a process known as “self-identification” and without the need for a medical diagnosis, which the UK government stepped in to stop from becoming law.
Asked about her comments, Starmer said his party had to ensure it was respectful when debating contentious issues.
He told broadcasters on Monday: “I’m very concerned that all of our discussions in the Labour party and in politics are discussions that we have with respect and with tolerance.
“And they’re the principles and the values that I want to see in our Labour party and that I insist on in our Labour party, whether it’s Rosie Duffield or anybody else.
“There will be differences of opinion, of course there will, but respect and tolerance are the values that we must have in all those debates.”
During last week’s debate on the gender recognition reform (Scotland) bill, Duffield said she had to raise her voice to be heard above the noise coming from other MPs, including from her own party’s benches.
Former Labour minister Ben Bradshaw could reportedly be heard calling her concerns “absolute rubbish” as Duffield argued for the need for spaces “segregated by sex”, including domestic violence settings, changing rooms and prisons, while fellow Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle also appeared to be trying to shout her down.
Russell-Moyle later apologised for his tone during the debate, saying it was a mistake and that he failed to control his passion in “an emotional debate”, while “standing by [his] words”.
Starmer was also asked to respond to a leaked conversation, reported by the Mail on Sunday, in which a spokesperson of his is alleged to have suggested that some of Duffield’s constituents wanted the Canterbury MP to “spend a bit more time” in her constituency rather than “hanging out with JK Rowling” – a prominent opponent of the Holyrood legislation.
Starmer was asked on Monday whether those principles he referred to stretched to his own aides. He said: “Respect and tolerance are values of the entire Labour party. Of course I know there are strong and differing opinions on a number of issues. But respect and tolerance are there as my values, Labour party values, whatever we’re discussing.”
It is understood that the Labour aide in question said he respected Duffield’s right to speak out on trans issues.
In an article written for the Unherd website, Duffield said on Friday: “What I feel now, after six years off being cold-shouldered by the Labour party, conjures memories of how I felt in that abusive relationship.
“When I come home at night, I feel low-level trauma at my political isolation.”
