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Sir Keir Starmer says he supports the banning of transgender athletes from women’s sport as “common sense has to prevail”.
After previously refusing to publicly confirm his stance, the Labour leader has since said he is “supportive” of measures which protect the female category of sporting competitions.
The shift comes amid accusations from author JK Rowling that his party could “no longer be counted on to defend women’s rights”.
At the time, he rejected questions about whether trans women Lia Thomas should be allowed to compete in women’s sport.
Sir Keir Starmer says he supports the banning of transgender athletes from women’s sport as ‘common sense has to prevail’
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However, after the Labour Party were warned last year that proposals to introduce self-declaration for trans people would cost it the next general election, Starmer’s stance changed.
“I think the important thing is that the sports governing bodies take a lead on this,” he told Telegraph Sport.
“And they are doing that, and we’re supportive of what they’re doing, particularly in elite sport. So, that’s where the decision should be taken. They’ve taken a number of decisions.
“And, in the end, common sense has to prevail in terms of safety and integrity of sport.”
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One of Thomas’s rivals – Riley Gaines – said she and others had not been “forewarned beforehand that we would be sharing a locker room with Lia” at events.
“We did not give our consent; they did not ask for our consent,” Gaines told Fox News.
“In that locker room, we turned around and there’s a 6ft 4in biological man dropping his pants and watching us undress, and we were exposed to male genitalia.
“Not even probably a year, two years ago, this would have been considered some form of sexual assault, voyeurism.
Lia Thomas is launching an appeal against the ban on transgender athletes competing at an ‘elite’ levelGETTY
“But now, not even are they just allowing it to happen, it’s almost as if these large organisations are encouraging it to happen.
“That to me was worse than the competition piece.”
The UK Government told the UK’s sports governing bodies to ban trans women from women’s sport.
Sports including swimming, cycling and athletics have complied, but football and cricket have yet to follow suit.
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