Tory management contender Penny Mordaunt has hit again at recent claims that she supported gender self-identification when she was a authorities equalities minister.
In the primary televised debate on Friday, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch and overseas secretary Liz Truss, who additionally has accountability for equality points, claimed Ms Mordaunt had backed a push for self-ID for individuals who want to transition.
They stated that collectively they’d reversed the coverage.
Ms Mordaunt strongly challenged the claims. She stated that whereas she had ordered a evaluate of the Gender Recognition Act, she was not in favour of self-identification and would “not have divorced it from healthcare”.
However, The Sunday Times stated it had seen leaked authorities papers which appeared to counsel she was in favour of eradicating at the least one ingredient of the medical course of required for transgender individuals to legally transition.
It stated one other paper from February 2020 confirmed that the federal government’s help for self-identification ended after she was changed because the minister in cost.
In response, a spokesman for her marketing campaign stated the papers seen by The Sunday Times made clear that each one the ministers concerned on the time had been in favour of sustaining medical involvement within the course of.
“The fact that so much of this contest has been distracted by side issues instead of the cost-of-living crisis impacting millions of people, is a major disappointment,” the spokesman stated.
“Arguing about policy is one thing, but questioning Penny’s values and integrity must be challenged. To be clear, on the issue of self-ID, leaked documents prove that all ministers in the department wanted to maintain medical involvement, including Penny. Other ministers can back this up.”
Ms Mordaunt was backed by Baroness Williams, who was junior equalities minister on the time, and stated the accounts of occasions given on the hustings and within the media have been “completely incorrect”.
“As minister for equalities in the department under both Penny Mordaunt and Amber Rudd I saw first hand that the position stated was absolutely not Penny Mordaunt’s and completely refute the allegations made by other candidates about the self ID debate,” she stated in a press release.
“Having sat in the Equalities Office for many years, I am shocked to see such incorrect reporting and briefings by our colleagues and would question the motives of those seeking to do so.”
The Sunday Times revealed particulars of a be aware from a senior civil servant despatched in July 2019 to Ms Mordaunt and different senior officers within the authorities equalities workplace (GEO).
At the time, Ms Mordaunt was defence secretary but in addition had accountability for ladies’s and equalities points.
The be aware acknowledged: “Currently, applicants are required to provide two medical reports: a diagnosis of gender dysphoria (which we are now intending to remove) and a report detailing any medical treatment received.
“There is no requirement to have undergone any medical treatment as part of transitioning, nor does the report’s contents have any bearing on the panel’s decision, so it is unclear what practical value this current report has in the process.
“However, this element of the process goes to the heart of whether we have a system that is essentially self-identification, or whether there are external checks in place.”
The be aware went on to state that “you have all indicated you would like some form of medical requirement to remain part of the process — particularly some form of assessment that the applicant is of ‘sound mind’ as they make their application to change their gender.
“This could be from a GP, a registered counsellor or a therapist. This would help safeguard vulnerable individuals, and would also provide a defence against potential vexatious applications.”
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Source: countryask.com