Labour say Tories have had 14 year to amend Equalities Act and Badenoch announcement is ‘a distraction from election campaign’

Labour has this morning dismissed the announcement by the Conservatives, saying there was no need to amend the Equalities Act.

Speaking on Times Radio, PA Media reports shadow defence secretary John Healey said:

We will not want to amend the Act, it’s not needed. It already provides a definition of a woman, and sex and gender are different.

What is needed is clearer guidance for service providers, from the NHS to sports bodies, and in prisons, on what single-sex exemptions need to be, and the best way to be able to do that is in guidance, not primary legislation.

The government has had 14 years to do that and it hasn’t. This, to be honest, is a distraction from the election campaign

Keir Starmer will be speaking shortly on defence and security. The Labour leader is expected to reaffirm his commitment to a “triple lock” for the UK’s nuclear deterrent, and his aim to raise defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product “as soon as resources allow”.

Labour’s nuclear deterrent triple lock includes a commitment to construct four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, maintaining Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent, and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for the submarines to patrol the waters.

We’ll bring you the key lines when he speaks.

Labour’s shadow armed forces minister Luke Pollard, speaking on GB News, has said that while Labour would not seek to rejoin a customs union with the EU, it would seek to change aspects of the current Brexit deal.

He told viewers:

It’s certainly true that since the botched Brexit deal was put in place, many of our businesses – exporters of food, fish, agricultural products in particular – have really struggled with the additional paperwork.

What Labour has set out is our ambition to have a veterinary agreement with the EU. That’s an agreement that New Zealand has with the EU, that removes the paperwork on food and drink exports. That would make a substantial difference to fishers and farmers right across the UK

Rishi Sunak has chosen not to offer and not to negotiate a veterinary agreement. He chose to not argue for one when Boris Johnson put through that botched Brexit deal. And I don’t think honestly anyone who voted leave was doing so to do over our fishers and farmers, quite the opposite. I think they wanted better support.

That’s why at this general election, Labour are saying we won’t be joining the single market. We won’t re-join the customs union. But we will seek to renegotiate a deal on veterinary agreements that removes paperwork. This is a sensible change to improve what was a pretty rubbish deal.