Rishi Sunak targets transgender people in ‘vile’ Conservative Party Conference speech

Rishi Sunak has been criticised for his comments made about transgender people at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. The speech took place just one day after openly gay Tory member, Andrew Boff, was ejected from the hall for accusing the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, of homophobia and transphobia.

In his speech - which lasted over an hour - the Prime Minister addressed the subject of transgender rights, he said: “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be - they can’t. A man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.”

The comments were met with anger from the public as many took to social media to vent their feelings. One user, called Andrew, said: “This statement has serious implications for the Gender Recognition Act. Trans people have been able to change their legal sex for 19 years (albeit in a now outdated process).

“It’s dangerous rhetoric and sets us on a path that rolls back decades of progress on minority rights.”

Meanwhile India Willoughby posted on X - formerly Twitter, saying: “As a trans person in Britain this is terrifying. Especially the Tory audience cheering and clapping as the Prime Minister gives the go-ahead for transphobia, saying we’re not real. Trans hate crime at record levels. Absolutely horrendous.”

Another user added: “It is genuinely scary to be living in the UK now, particularly for trans people. To see the PM engage in blatant denial of the existence of trans people while the crowd cheers on is sickening.” Language such as ‘vile’ and ‘disgusting’ was also used on social media to describe the comments.

Rishi Sunak’s speech comes just one day after Suella Braverman was heckled by a prominent Conservative party member. Boff - who admitted to being a ‘loyal Tory for for more than 50 years’ - audibly questioned the Home Secretary from his seat after she said ideas like “gender ideology, white privilege, and anti-British history” are turning the UK ‘woke’.

“There’s no such thing as gender ideology” Boff said, before adding the speech was “trash” and that it is “making our Conservative Party look transphobic and homophobic.” After being removed by security guards, the Tory member spoke to the press and accused the Home Secretary of ‘bullying’ trans people and the ‘LGBT’ community.

He said: “The home secretary said some things which I found quite objectionable, I consider them bullying, I consider them bullying trans people and the LGBT community.”

“I was born and brought up that when you see a bully you challenge them and that’s what I was doing and I challenged her.”

The home secretary addressed Mr Boff’s removal on X, saying his “heckles were silly but I think he should be forgiven and let back into conference”.