Delays to guidance on sticking to pivotal sex ruling are 'indefensible'

NURSES LEFT EXPOSED BY 10-MONTH WAIT

- BY GILES SHELDRICK Chief Reporter

Nurse Jennifer Melle (front, centre) is supported by (left to right) File nurse Sandie Peploe, Rebecca Paul MP, Darlington nurse Bethany Hutchinson, Wim Shannon MP, Mims Davies MP, Liz Leire, Councillor MP Darlington nurse Lisa Lackey, and Rose Duffield MP

LABOUR has been accused of “indefensible” delays by sitting on guidance aimed at stamping out “radical gender ideology”.

Pressure is mounting on the government to publish in full recommendations to end “absurd witch hunts” in the wake of three landmark legal cases in which the NHS was defeated.

The public sector was told to adhere to the law immediately after the Supreme Court ruled in April last year that a woman was defined by biological sex. Yet, almost 10 months later, fury is growing because there has been no progress.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “The government’s continued delay in publishing lawful guidance on single sex spaces is now indefensible.

“Every further delay fuels confusion, enables injustice, and exposes nurses to disciplinary action simply for upholding biological reality or acting according to conscience.

“Guidance must be published without delay so that the NHS and other public institutions can finally operate within the law and protect their staff from further harm.” Last week, Jennifer Melle, a nurse suspended after allegedly “misgendering” a transgender paedophile patient, was reinstated after Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust was forced into a humiliating climb-down in the face of public anger.

Failure