Olympian Sharron Davies blasts Labour over women's rights in major trans row

Lisa Nandy triggered outrage saying biologically male competitors should be allowed to take part alongside women.

The Culture Secretary said it should be up to individual sports to make the decision, arguing “most” sports had got the balance right.

Ms Davies, who has been a leading champion of protections for single sex sports, accused the new government of not treating women fairly.

Posting on social media, the swimming star wrote: “Sport should be competed in by sex. It is not at all complicated @lisanandy.

“Girls and women get a tiny slice of the sports cake and now you @UKLabour @Keir_Starmer are telling them they also don’t get fair sport. This does not happen to men in mens sport! We are NOT less worthy.”

JK Rowling also lambasted Ms Nandy over her stance on trans issues, saying she is the reason why she didn’t vote Labour.

Ms Rowling, who has had a long-running dispute with Keir Starmer’s party over the issue, took a swipe at Ms Nandy’s previous remarks about violent male offenders including child rapists should have the right to serve their sentence in female-only prisons if they transition.

In a post on social media the furious Harry Potter author said: “A woman who thinks trans-identified sex offenders should be in ‘the prison of their choosing’ was hardly going to baulk at males in women’s sport, was she?

“@lisanandy told us loudly and proudly who she was pre-election. She’s one of the main reasons I couldn’t vote Labour.”

The previous Tory government called for a total ban on trans people taking part in elite-level women’s events, with Lucy Frazer, the former culture secretary, urging sporting chiefs to take an “unambiguous position” to protect female athletes.

But Ms Nandy insisted that individual sports should be free to decide for themselves whether to let trans people take part.

In an interview with The House magazine, she said: “I think that is the right approach.

“And I think we ought to respect the fact that they’re far more expert in making those judgments and decisions than we are.”

She argued that “broadly speaking, most sports have got that right”, but emphasised that “biology does matter” and should be taken into account.

Some sports such as athletics, cycling, swimming and rugby have already barred trans women from participating in female-only events, both in Britain and around the world.

But the Football Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board are among those that still allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s fixtures if they meet certain criteria, such as low testosterone levels. Both are currently reviewing their policies.

About 70 trans footballers take part in grassroots football on a weekly basis, but none play at a professional level.

Ms Nandy said she wanted decision-makers to feel supported to make fair choices on trans inclusion.

She added: “But I think most have come to the conclusion that, although they want to be as inclusive as possible, biology does matter when it comes to sport, and that it’s impossible to balance the requirement of fairness without ensuring that they take biology into account.

“I think that’s broadly sensible.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Lisa Nandy’s words yesterday did represent the government position.

The Government’s position is that it's a matter for sporting bodies. Sporting bodies are the experts in their particular area.

“But clearly we don’t want to see women’s sport undermined, that is balancing fairness and safety comes in. But we fully support sporting bodies maintaining the integrity of sports.”

LGBT advocacy groups have argued that excluding trans athletes amounts to discrimination and that not enough research has been done into the impact of transition on athletic performance.

Others maintain that inherent advantages remain even if testosterone has been reduced.

Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at Sex Matters, a women’s rights charity, welcomed Ms Nandy’s acknowledgement that biology matters in sport.

Ms Nandy previously prompted a backlash from gender-critical campaigners including JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author, for arguing in 2020 that trans criminals should be allowed to be sent to “a prison of their choosing”.

When she ran for the Labour leadership, she also signed a pledge card that called on candidates to back the expulsion of party members who held “bigoted, transphobic views”.