Health Secretary and Ealing North MP James Murray said it is “absolutely clear” that single-sex spaces within the NHS should be “protected on the basis of sex” as he confirmed he would no longer use the phrase “trans women are women”.
Mr Murray, who was appointed to the role last month after the resignation of Wes Streeting, said he recognises that “sex and gender are different things”.
He said he had thought “in quite some detail” about use of language, when it was put to him that he had in the past stated that “trans women are women”.
Asked if he had changed his mind, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Yeah, I have changed what I would say. I wouldn’t say that phrase any more.
“And I think that, you know, over the last few years, I think a lot of us, myself included, have thought about this question in quite some detail.
“The Supreme Court has obviously ruled very clearly that biological sex is what matters when it comes to the Equality Act, and determining the importance of single-sex spaces.”
He stressed that he also believes in “dignity for trans people”.
He added: “I believe that single-sex spaces should be protected on the basis of sex, on the basis of biological sex, whilst at the same time believing in dignity for trans people, recognising that sex and gender are different things, but being absolutely clear that single-sex spaces within the NHS, for instance, need to be protected on the basis of sex.”
In May, the Government published long-awaited guidance drafted by Britain’s rights watchdog which confirmed single-sex services must be on the basis of biological sex.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance stated: “In separate or single-sex services, a trans man will be excluded from the men-only service because his sex is female, and a trans woman will be excluded from the women-only service because her sex is male.”
It covered a range of scenarios including hospital wards, which it said can lawfully exclude trans patients if single-sex.
The code states that hospitals can choose to provide a single-sex ward “for women patients to protect their safety, privacy and dignity”.
If they do, it has to be on the basis of a patient’s biological sex.
Under current NHS guidance, trans patients can be accommodated on single-sex wards based on the gender they identify as.
When the code was published, just under two weeks ago, an NHS spokesperson said: “Now that the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory guidance has been laid in Parliament, we are reviewing it with the aim of publishing draft guidance for the health service shortly.”
The code of practice, which would apply across England, Scotland and Wales, was laid before Parliament on May 21 for scrutiny from both MPs in the Commons and peers in the Lords.
It will not be enacted for 40 days.
While a vote would not be required to enact the code and make it statutory, either House could pass a motion to reject it within that period.
The updated guidance was published more than a year after a landmark Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 which said the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
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