EHRC accused of ‘bullying’ government to push through "harmful and unworkable proposals"
– 3 min read
The government was urged in the House of Lords last night not to let themselves be “bullied by the EHRC” as a row erupted between the regulator and the government over their intervention - publicly pressuring Equality Minister Bridget Phillipson to stop scrutinising proposals and accept them immediately.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have also scrapped their controversial interim advice telling service providers to implement trans bathroom bans in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in April, just before it was due to be scrutinised in the High Court.
According to Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, a trans-led not for profit organisation working in partnership with cis allies to drive positive change for the UK trans+ community, the EHRC’s position "seeks to make trans exclusion not just an option, but make it mandatory for service providers to exclude trans people from services and spaces for their lived gender".
Since Monday, nearly 4,500 trans people and allies have written to their MPs urging the code to be rejected if it fails to provide clarity on how to remain trans-inclusive. Many legal experts, including former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption, have publicly disagreed with the EHRC’s position - which hundreds of businesses recently called “unworkable”.
Scrap the Bathroom Ban
🚨This is urgent🚨 Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, has a decision to make. The EHRC, a regulator mired in controversy over anti-trans views, has sent a new draft Code of Practice to our Equality Act which would lead to the exclusion of trans people from public life. Act now. Ask your MP to urge the government to scrap the bathroom ban and demand any new Code of Practice ensures providers can lawfully include trans people in their services. Pressure is building. Every voice matters here.
Action Network
The EHRC’s attack on the Minister came a day after the Council of Europe’s Commissioner on Human Rights warned the UK that they are at risk of violating trans people’s human rights if new guidance does not limit trans exclusion to “situations in which this would be strictly necessary and proportionate”.
Trans+ Solidarity Alliance spokesperson Alex Parmar-Yee said: “The EHRC are tying themselves in knots trying to force this through, behaving more like activists than civil servants. This is bizarre behaviour by a supposedly impartial public institution. The Minister cannot let herself get played by a body that is clearly pushing an agenda, knowing their harmful and unworkable proposals don’t stand up to close inspection.
Scrap the Bathroom Ban
🚨This is urgent🚨 Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, has a decision to make. The EHRC, a regulator mired in controversy over anti-trans views, has sent a new draft Code of Practice to our Equality Act which would lead to the exclusion of trans people from public life. Act now. Ask your MP to urge the government to scrap the bathroom ban and demand any new Code of Practice ensures providers can lawfully include trans people in their services. Pressure is building. Every voice matters here.
Action Network
“Withdrawing their damaging interim advice just before having to defend it in court, while publicly hitting out at a government minister for not immediately rubber stamping their draft formal code, is pure desperation to avoid scrutiny
“Pressure is building on Bridget Phillipson to do the right thing and send this half-baked nonsense back to the EHRC, telling them to try again and give clarity for service providers on how to include trans people in their lived gender - not mandating blanket exclusion.
“Between the dramatic intervention of Europe’s human rights watchdog, hundreds of businesses telling the government not to approve this, and over 4,000 trans people and allies writing to their MPs since Monday - it is becoming increasingly clear that the guidance is not fit for purpose. Bridget Phillipson has a decision to make: will she ensure new guidance is right, workable and lawful - or allow herself to be bullied by the EHRC.”
