More than 100 MPs sign bid to disapprove EHRC single-sex spaces code
Labour MP Nadia Whittome. (Parliament)
Labour MP Nadia Whittome. (Parliament) (Image: London Portrait Photoqrapher-DAVID WOOLFALL)
More than 100 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling for Parliament to disapprove the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) draft Code of Practice on services, public functions and associations, with critics warning it would exclude and segregate trans people from everyday services.
The motion, tabled by Labour MP Nadia Whittome, has been reported with varying totals. On 9 June, published tallies put the number of signatories at 104 MPs, 106 MPs and 108 MPs.
Whittome said the code would have serious consequences for trans people: “The Code will exclude trans people from services and facilities that they have long used without issue, putting them at increased risk of harassment and violence, and effectively pushing them out of public life,” she said. She added: “It ushers in an era of enforced segregation for trans people, the policing of which will be outsourced to service providers, including businesses, charities and public bodies,” in a statement shared on social media.
Under parliamentary procedure, the draft code will automatically come into force unless either House passes a resolution to disapprove it. The EHRC guidance was laid before Parliament on 21 May 2026.
What the draft code says
The updated code follows a UK Supreme Court ruling in April 2025, which determined the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex. It reportedly addresses scenarios including sport participation and hospital wards, and indicates that toilets designated male or female should be for those of that biological sex, with trans people able to use accessible, lockable or unisex toilets.
Campaigners and MPs step up pressure
Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, was first elected in 2019 and has been publicly supportive of trans rights, including as a trans ally on the Women and Equalities Committee.
A Trans+ Solidarity Alliance spokesperson said: “More than a hundred MPs have signed and made it clear that this code is unjust, unworkable and unacceptable. Trans people across the country are looking to their MP to join this growing chorus to reject the guidance.” They added: “A bathroom ban is not how the Equality Act was supposed to work.”
Disability Rights UK said the updated code “sets a dangerous precedent for the weakening of protected characteristics and risks further ostracisation of trans and intersex people from public life”. The EHRC chair and chief executive were due to appear before the Women and Equalities Committee on 9 June to answer questions about the draft guidance.
