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  "path": "/news/trans-row-bridget-phillipson-meeting-supreme-court-ruling",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-13T07:36:02.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Ex-police officer becomes first British-born person to have citizenship stripped over Russia links",
    "Paedophiles allowed to send bedtime stories to children at 'paradise' UK prison",
    "Keir Starmer accused of 'direct Brexit betrayal' as Labour plots putting UK under EU control",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA women's rights charity has accused Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson of refusing to meet with campaigners who secured last year's landmark Supreme Court victory on the legal definition of a \"woman\".\n\nFor Women Scotland (FWS) claimed its request for talks with Ms Phillipson ahead of the ruling's first anniversary has been \"blocked\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSusan Smith, a director of FWS, described the minister's failure to engage as \"outrageous\", calling on Sir Keir Starmer to step in.\n\n\"We're really disappointed that Phillipson has not met with us yet,\" Ms Smith told The Telegraph. \"I don't know whether it's being blocked by Phillipson or the Civil Service\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nShe added: \"Somebody, somewhere does not want to meet us it's outrageous. I cannot believe we cannot get her in the same room as us.\"\n\nThe charity wrote to Ms Phillipson on March 17 seeking a meeting in London this week, but received only a holding response on Friday with no commitment to talks.\n\n\"We cannot get through despite having won the case,\" Ms Smith said.\n\nThe Supreme Court determined last April that the Equality Act's definition of a woman is grounded in biological sex.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHowever, guidance on protecting women's access to single-sex spaces remains unpublished nearly twelve months on.\n\nMs Phillipson has maintained that additional time is necessary to ensure the guidance is correct.\n\nWhen asked whether the Prime Minister should compel the minister to release the guidance, Ms Smith responded: \"I think so. This is not a difficult thing or a complicated thing to do.\"\n\nFWS now plans to hand a letter to Downing Street on Thursday as part of a protest involving 28 women's rights organisations.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Ex-police officer becomes first British-born person to have citizenship stripped over Russia links\n  * Paedophiles allowed to send bedtime stories to children at 'paradise' UK prison\n  * Keir Starmer accused of 'direct Brexit betrayal' as Labour plots putting UK under EU control\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe coalition of groups writing to the Prime Minister includes the human rights charity Sex Matters, as well as Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey and Karen Danson - the three Darlington nurses who prevailed at an employment tribunal after being compelled to share changing facilities with a trans colleague.\n\nIn their letter to Sir Keir, the signatories stated: \"We are still waiting for Government departments, local authorities, NHS bodies, regulators and publicly funded organisations to bring their policies in line with the law.\"\n\nThe groups argued that the absence of legal clarity was \"harmful for everyone\" – trans people included.\n\nThey concluded that it was \"incumbent on the Government to provide leadership and ensure that the law is properly understood and implemented\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nBaroness Falkner, who headed the Equality and Human Rights Commission until November, previously accused Ms Phillipson of placing her \"personal ambition\" above women's rights by avoiding conflict with \"activist MPs in her party\".\n\nThe former EHRC chair submitted an updated code of practice to the minister in early September, directing businesses and public bodies to exclude trans women from female toilets and changing rooms.\n\nConservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the Prime Minister's approach, stating: \"Keir Starmer loves the law when it suits him, but when he doesn't like the outcome he will not enforce it.\"\n\nHowever, a Government spokesman defended the delay, saying ministers were \"carefully considering the draft code and its implications\" and that internal Civil Service guidance was \"currently under review\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Women's rights charity which aided Supreme Court trans ruling slams Bridget Phillipson for 'blocking' meeting"
}