Weekly Round-Up

Parliament to debate Equality Act 2010, London Marathon ignores biology and the University of Edinburgh undermines free speech

Hello everyone,

Here are the biggest stories of the week:

1.     Parliament to debate Equality Act 2010

After much anticipation, it has finally been announced that parliament will be debating the Equality Act 2010.

This is off the back of a petition started by Maya Forstater of Sex Matters, which reached the milestone of over 100,000 signatures back in March. Before the petition closed, it had received over 109,000 signatures.

The petition asks the government to update the Equality Act 2010, to clarify that the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ relates to biological sex only.

Once the petition hit 10,000 signatures, the Cabinet Office responded in writing. The response was not particularly favourable, stating that people “are already able to restrict the use of spaces/services on the basis of sex” and that “further clarification is not necessary”.

However, now parliamentarians from across the political spectrum will be able to debate the petition. The debate has been scheduled for 12^th June and members of the public will be able to watch it live on the UK Parliamentary YouTube Channel.