PM casts himself as the defender of Conservative values as he pledges to protect the family, get tough on crime and clamp down on benefits
Rishi Sunak pledged to stop people being “bullied” into accepting trans arguments as he used his conference speech to take on Labour over gender.
The Prime Minister said it “shouldn’t be controversial” to ensure parents were informed what their children were being taught about sex and relationships at school. He insisted it was “common sense” to say that “a man is a man and a woman is a woman” in his most strident intervention yet on the highly charged subject.
Mr Sunak made the remarks in an hour-long address to his party’s grassroots in Manchester, during which he cast himself as a defender of Conservative values. The speech drew a clear dividing line with Sir Keir Starmer, who has struggled to explain his stance on trans rights, ahead of Labour’s own conference this weekend.
Although announcements on A-levels, smoking and HS2 dominated, much of the 7,617-word address was dedicated to fleshing out the Prime Minister’s broader political ideology.