Labour ‘would bring in reflection period for people legally changing gender’

Reports suggest the party would scrap the need for a diagnosis panel and replace it with a single specialist.

Labour would simplify the process for people wanting to legally change gender by requiring a diagnosis from one specialist doctor rather than a panel, according to reports.

However, an official gender recognition certificate (GRC) would only be handed over at the end of a two-year ‘reflection period’, BBC News said.

The party would also end the need for trans people to provide years of documentation to prove they have lived in their acquired gender in an effort to ‘remove indignities’, as described in its manifesto.

Reacting to the reports this morning, Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said the proposals ‘change creates more loopholes for predators and bad faith actors to infiltrate women-only spaces and put us at risk’.

Trans campaigners have long argued for changes to the GRC process, which they describe as overly complicated and lengthy.

Meanwhile, controversy over bets placed on the election date by figures in the Conservative party continues to escalate.

It’s understood that many more people are under investigation by the gambling regulator than the four currently named.