A controversial proposal to ban transgender women from female-only spaces will not be debated after both Tory and Labour MPs were accused of filibustering a bill drawn up by Liz Truss.
The former prime minister said she was “furious” at the Labour Party for preventing debate on her Private Member’s Bill, which would also have barred transgender women from participating in women’s sports and stopped children attempting to change their sex.
However, it is also understood some Conservatives had been asked to prolong the earlier debates to run down the clock and stop Ms Truss’s bill from being debated – a tactic known as filibustering – although one Tory MP sought to play down the claims.
In a statement, Ms Truss said Labour “don’t even want to discuss how to protect children and single-sex spaces, let alone put those protections into law”.
“Labour care more about ideology than the protection of children,” she claimed.
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“It is vital that we legislate to safeguard single-sex spaces and prevent children from making irreversible decisions about their bodies.”
Ms Truss was backed by equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, who posted on X: “Just now Labour MPs prevented debate on a new law to protect children and single-sex spaces. Instead they used parliamentary time to discuss ferret name choices.
“Keir Starmer is terrified of debate on safeguarding & his MPs actively work to ignore the concerns of constituents.”
The Commons was due to debate the proposed legislation on Friday but the bill was “talked out” after MPs spent five hours debating two other proposals from backbench MPs.
In the debate on animal welfare, more Conservative MPs than Labour MPs spoke, although Labour members provided the longest speeches – including a 35-minute contribution from shadow environment secretary Steve Reed.
Conservative backbencher Richard Fuller insisted members of his party had not sought to prevent the bill being debated, using a point of order to say it was only the Labour Party that was trying to talk out the Bill.
Accused by Tory backbencher Sally Ann Hart of trying to “talk out” the Bill, Mr Reed denied this, saying the subject was “important”, to cries of “rubbish” from the Conservative benches.
After four hours was spent debating the Animal Welfare Bill, MPs then proceeded to debate a bill on public procurement by Labour MP Sarah Champion which meant there was no time for Ms Truss’s proposals.
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Ms Truss’s bill has now been rescheduled for 22 March but will fall to the bottom of the list, meaning it is unlikely to be debated.
On Friday, Downing Street did not say whether it would back Ms Truss’s bill, but it is understood Ms Badenoch is supportive of what it is trying to achieve.
Asked about the bill on Friday, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We welcome the sentiment set out in the bill, not least because it is consistent with our own approach on the fundamental importance of biological sex and the right that women have to access dedicated single-sex spaces.”
