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British prime minister mocks transgender women in leaked video

PinkNewsUK obtained video of comments

Published

3 years ago

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President Joe Biden meets with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on April 12, 2023, at the Grand Central Hotel Belfast in Northern Ireland. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

Britain’s leading LGBTQ media outlet, PinkNewsUK, reported Sunday that it had obtained a recent video in which British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak is clearly heard mocking transgender women.

The leaked video, shared exclusively with PinkNewsUK, is from a gathering of the 1922 Committee — a group of all Conservative lawmakers that meets weekly when Parliament is in session — on June 5, 2023.

According to PinkNewsUK:

“PinkNews has seen an exclusive photograph from the event, and it is estimated that up to a hundred MPs were in attendance, including notable Tories such as 1922 Committee chair, Sir Graham Brady, and Veteran’s Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer. Philip Hollobone, MP for Kettering, and Desmond Swain, MP for New Forest West, were also at the gathering.

Sunak’s address and his choice of humor, which dehumanizes and ‘others’ trans women and is met with raucous laughter from Tory MPs, suggests that the PM is keen to maintain his anti-trans stance when speaking to colleagues without the media being present.”

From PinkNewsUK:

The prime minster makes reference to an opposition leader, although that person is not clearly identified. PinkNewsUK noted that the prime minster then took aim at Sir Edward Jonathan Davey, a British politician who has served as leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020.

“Over the same period of time, you might have noticed Ed Davey has been very busy,” Sunak says.

“Like me, you can probably see that he was trying to convince everybody that women clearly had penises.”

“You’ll all know that I’m a big fan of everybody studying maths to 18, but it turns out that we need to focus on biology,” the prime minister added.

The person who shared the video with PinkNews said: “The veneer of freedom of speech publicly is one thing but to make jokes in private, it’s another thing altogether.”

“You wouldn’t make jokes about other marginalized people the way he did about trans people.”

They added: “There was laughter, there were quite a few younger attendees who looked visibly uncomfortable.”

Sunak’s mention of “biology” and the use of trans women as a punchline appears to demonstrate the prime minister’s willingness to adopt so-called gender-critical lines and attack the trans community when addressing his own MPs in private PinkNewsUK noted.

Trans rights are under attack in the U.K.

Five months ago Sunak blocked Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill from being signed into law by King Charles III. Additionally Sunak has also made clear that he plans to re-write the Equality Act to bar trans women from single-sex spaces including changing rooms and sporting competitions.

PinkNewsUK has reached out to Sunak for comment.

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United Kingdom

Queen Camilla meets with JK Rowling

Edinburgh meeting took place on last day of Pride month

Published

1 month ago

on

July 2, 2026

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(Photo via The Royal Family/X)

Queen Camilla on Tuesday met with JK Rowling.

The Royal Family on X said the meeting took place at Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The post included a picture of Camilla and Rowling together.

“With a shared passion for books and a deep commitment to children reading for pleasure, The queen and author JK Rowling have met at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh,” it reads. “Her Majesty and Ms. Rowling discussed the importance of ensuring that young people have access to books and the vital part reading plays in opening doors for future generations.”

Rowling over the last decade has emerged as a vocal opponent of transgender rights. Her meeting with Camilla took place on the last day of Pride month.

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United Kingdom

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign

Announcement comes after Labour Party election loses, ambassador scandal

Published

2 months ago

on

June 22, 2026

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British Prime Minister Kier Starmer announces his resignation on June 22, 2026. (Screen capture via The Telegraph/YouTube)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday announced he will step down once his party chooses his successor.

Starmer succeeded Rishi Sunak of the Conservative Party in No. 10 Downing St. in 2024.

The Labour Party included a ban on so-called conversion therapy in England and Wales in its elections manifesto. King Charles III in last month’s King Speech that he delivered in the British House of Lords said a transgender-inclusive ban is among the British government’s legislative priorities.

Charles delivered his King’s Speech days after the Labour lost more than 1,000 council seats in local and regional elections. The May 7 vote took place against the backdrop of widespread criticism over Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S., despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is seen as the frontrunner to become Labour’s new leader — and the UK’s next prime minister. Burnham was sworn in as an MP in the House of Commons hours after Starmer announced his resignation.

Starmer in his resignation announcement said he expects his successor will be in place before MPs return from their summer recess on Sept. 1.

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United Kingdom

UK government makes trans-inclusive conversion therapy ban a legislative priority

King Charles III on Wednesday delivered King’s Speech

Published

3 months ago

on

May 14, 2026

By

(Photo by Rob Wilson via Bigstock)

King Charles III on Wednesday said a transgender-inclusive ban on so-called conversion therapy in England and Wales is among the British government’s legislative priorities.

“My government will bring forward a bill to speed up remediation for people living in homes with unsafe cladding [Remediation Bill] and a draft bill to ban abusive conversion practices [Draft Conversion Practices Bill],” said Charles in his King’s Speech that he delivered in the British House of Lords.

The government writes the King’s Speech, which outlines its legislative agenda. The British monarch delivers it at Parliament’s ceremonial opening.

“Conversion practices are abuse, and the government will deliver the manifesto commitment to bring forward a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices,” said the government in an addendum to the speech.

Then-Prime Minister Theresa May’s government in 2018 announced it would “bring forward proposals to end the practice of conversion therapy in the U.K.”

Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government in 2022 said it would support a ban that did not include gender identity. The decision sparked outrage among British advocacy groups, and prompted them to boycott a government-sponsored LGBTQ conference that was ultimately cancelled.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party ahead of the 2024 elections included a conversion therapy ban in its manifesto. Charles delivered the King’s Speech against the backdrop of growing calls for Starmer to resign after the Labour Party lost more than 1,000 council seats in local and regional elections that took place on May 7.

Stonewall, a British advocacy group, on April 30 said the government “has failed to meet its own timeline to publish a draft bill to ban conversion practices.”

“We should not have to wait any longer,” said Stonewall CEO Simon Blake in his group’s statement. “Conversion practices are abuse. LGBTQ+ people do not need fixing or changing. They need to hear and feel that government is going to protect their safety and dignity. Not at some random date in the future. No more delays.”

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