Suella Braverman has been talking about penises at a right-wing Christian conference
Suella Braverman made a dig at Keir Starmer while speaking at the Christian National Conservatism conference. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Home secretary Suella Braverman has claimed Keir Starmer could run as “Labour’s first female prime minister” in an anti-trans dig during a speech at a far-right conference.
Speaking at the controversial National Conservatism conference, also known as NatCon, in London on Monday (15 May), Braverman bizarrely joked that since Starmer had previously stated “trans women are women”, the Labour leader could run as a trans woman in the next general election.
The Labour leader has since been criticised for ‘throwing trans people under the bus’ by making a series of anti-trans comments since showing initial support.
“Conservatives must always be honest with the public. Honest about our principles and honest about our priorities,” The Independent reported Braverman as saying.
“In that way, we distinguish ourselves from the leader of the left, Sir Keir Starmer. He opposes today the things he stood for yesterday, that he’ll change his mind on tomorrow, and he’ll campaign on next year as a man of great principle.
“Although, given his definition of a woman, we can’t rule him out from running to be Labour’s first female prime minister.”
Earlier in her speech, she added that it was an “unfashionable fact” that “100 per cent of women do not have a penis”.
Her statements echo those of prime minister Rishi Sunak in April, when he also said “100 per cent” of women do not have a penis.
“As a general kind of operating principle, for me biological sex is vitally fundamentally important,” the prime minister said at the time.
“We can’t forget that and that’s why we need to make sure – particularly when it comes to women’s health, women’s sports or indeed spaces – that we’re protecting those rights and places.”
The rest of Suella Braverman’s speech saw her condemn protesters at the King’s coronation on 6 May, as well as push for tighter immigration laws, and claim white people should not feel “collective guilt” for the UK’s legacy of slavery.
She told the conference: “People who come here should embrace and respect this country. They must not commit crimes. They may practice any faith or none, and they need to respect everyone else’s right to do the same.
“They need to learn English and understand British social norms and mores, which is not to say that they cannot enrich and add to our culture.
“The unexamined drive towards multiculturalism as an end in itself, combined with identity politics, is a recipe for communal disaster.”
The home secretary’s speech was interrupted by two protesters who claimed to be from Extinction Rebellion, and reportedly questioned Braverman about the government’s “small boats” policy while being escorted out by security.
Sunak previously backed Braverman’s plans to speak at NatCon, an event based on evangelical Christian beliefs, which describes its principles as supporting “the traditional family, built around a lifelong bond between a man and a woman”.
Braverman will be joined at the conference, which runs until Wednesday (17 May), by Tory MPs Jacob Rees-Mogg and Miriam Cates, and member of the House of Lords, Sir David Frost.
Sunak’s press secretary told Byline Times that “ministers and members of the party are free to speak at events where they see fit”.
