Labour shelves plans to make it easier for people to legally change gender
Labour has quietly shelved plans to make it easier for people to legally change their gender amid concerns about the rising popularity of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.Ministers have mothballed their promised reforms to simplify the process whereby anyone seeking to change gender in the UK must get approval from a panel of doctors and lawyers.A Labour source confirmed to the Guardian that the changes were not a priority for the government and may not be brought forward before the next general election.The Labour party has not formally scrapped its manifesto pledge to reform the gender recognition process, but the fact that legislation to implement it did not appear in the king’s speech reflects that it is not a priority for ministers.The prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters: “The king’s speech sets out our legislative programme.
But we stand by our commitment to modernise gender recognition rules as set out in the manifesto, and we’ll set out our next steps on this work in due course.”Sources told the Times, which first reported the story, that the changes would have served as “catnip” for Farage and asked: “Why would we open that particular can of worms for ourselves at this particular moment?”Under the existing UK-wide process brought about by the Gender Recognition Act, anyone seeking to legally change gender must live as their preferred gender for two years before seeking a gender recognition certificate.Obtaining the certificate is subject to approval by a panel of doctors and lawyers.Labour had intended to drop the two-year requirement and replace the panel with a registrar system requiring signoff from just one doctor.Writing for the Guardian in 2023, Anneliese Dodds, who was shadow equalities minister at the time, said the current process was “intrusive, outdated and humiliating” by requiring “a panel of anonymous doctors to decide something of momentous significance, based on reams of intrusive medical paperwork and evidence of any surgery”.
She wrote: “This is demeaning for trans people and meaningless in practice,A diagnosis provided by one doctor, with a registrar instead of a panel, should be enough,We will remove invasive bureaucracy and simplify the process,”Labour confirmed this was still its position before the election last summer,The party’s manifesto promised to “modernise, simplify and reform the intrusive and outdated gender recognition law” and to “remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a specialist doctor”.
The manifesto also pledged to maintain single-sex exceptions under the Equality Act and to deliver “a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices”, which is still expected to go ahead.Labour strategists are concerned about the rise of Reform UK, which is neck-and-neck with Labour and the Conservatives in opinion polls.In the US, Donald Trump made his anti-trans agenda a cornerstone of his winning presidential election campaign.Since entering office, he has signed executive orders stripping back transgender protections, ending government diversity and inclusion programmes and banning transgender athletes from female sport.Nicola Sturgeon’s government in Scotland sought to implement a self-ID process in 2022.
The move was endorsed by Holyrood in December 2022 but was blocked by Rishi Sunak’s government in Westminster the following month,
Gordon Ramsay reaches boiling point in Chelsea, 1999
Gordon Ramsay is in the kitchen of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, and it’s hot, intense and frenzied, wrote fly-on-the-wall reporter Nicci Gerard in the Observer on 24 January 1999.‘Over everyone towers Ramsay, barking orders, spraying expletives across the room… tasting, shouting (“Fucking unbelievable!”), calming (“Guys, guys, guys!”).’ Ramsay, 32, the ‘wunderkind of the cooking world’, is running what is ‘not a democracy but a dictatorship’. Channel 4 was filming the kitchen for Ramsay’s Boiling Point, a five-part documentary.It was a bad week: his father had just died, aged 54
The Great Indian, London: ‘A thoroughly delightful food pub’ – restaurant review
An old north London boozer has found new life as an Indian restaurant, and redefined ‘gastropub’ along the wayThe Great Indian, 139 Marlborough Road, London N19 4NU. Small plates £7.50-£11.50, large dishes £9.50-£23
Save our cider: apple growers and producers call on government to protect traditional ‘native wine of England’
They are a symbol of the bucolic English countryside and a staple of the West Country landscape, but since the second world war, 90% of traditional orchards have disappeared.Defined as a collection of five or more fruit trees planted in permanent grassland and managed in a non-intensive way, traditional orchards have suffered from neglect, been razed for development and converted to intensive bush orchards or alternative crops.Now cider makers are calling on the government to protect what they say is one of the country’s most environmentally friendly farming systems. Traditional orchards are often wildlife havens with rare birds and insects, and allow silvopasture – where livestock grazes on a variety of plants in forests and tree-filled pastureland, eliciting multiple uses from one field. Older orchards, proponents say, are excellent carbon storers
How to turn eggs into a traditional British pub snack – recipe
Pickling is a good way to lengthen the life of your eggs, and a chance to use up herbs and spices, tooThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.At Yeo Valley’s Good Food and Eating Well conference last year, Christine Storry of the Dynamic Food Board, a UK body that promotes sustainable, local food procurement, estimated that “more than 700 million eggs are wasted in the UK each year”; that’s roughly 45,000 tonnes, or almost equivalent to the weight of the Titanic. She also noted that only 22% of us know how to test if an egg is fresh and safe to eat
Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for orange and cardamom muffins | The sweet spot
Give me a muffin over a cupcake any day. They’re less faffy to make, don’t need much when it comes to decorations, and I’m a big fan of the way the domed tops spill over the cases, giving a crisp shell that contrasts with the fluffy insides. Orange and cardamom feel bright and fresh, so are ideal for cold, grey afternoons.Prep 10 minRest 15 min Cook 40 min Makes 6Zest of 1 orange Seeds from 6 green cardamom pods, crushed100g caster sugar190g plain flour 1½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 large egg 80g plain yoghurt 40ml milk 80g unsalted butter, melted20g oil 2-3 tbsp pearl sugar (optional)Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7 and line a six-hole muffin tray with paper cases.In a bowl, use your fingertips to rub the orange zest and cardamom into the sugar until well combined and smelling nice and fragrant
Seven kitchen gadgets I can’t live without: ‘How does anyone make a salad without one?’
Keen cook Elizabeth Quinn opens her drawer to share the culinary tools that save her time, sanity and fingertipsThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.What makes a kitchen gadget a culinary gamechanger? An indispensable item of the kitchen toolkit doesn’t have to be hi-tech or fancy – my most prized tool is a 50 cent plastic spatula – but it does have to earn its place in the cutlery drawer.The Guardian’s journalism is independent
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