MPs push back against calls to remove gender questions from census

Liz Bates

MPs have railed against proposed changes to the census that would mean people no longer have to state their sex, deeming it “political correctness gone mad”.



The plans were mooted in a report by the Office for National Statistics, which called for gender questions to be removed from the form as they were “irrelevant, unacceptable and intrusive”.



The suggestion was aimed at reducing discrimination against transgender citizens, but could leave Britain without an accurate figure for the number of men and women living in the country.



Outspoken Tory backbencher and member of the Women and Equality Select Committee, Philip Davies said: "The world is going mad - political correctness is taking over the country. I despair."



While Labour MP Jess Phillips, told The Telegraph: "I think sex is important to monitor, eliminating it means we cannot see effects of certain things on women's lives.



"I'm more than happy for other categories to be included such as non binary options."



Stephanie Davies-Arai, a feminist activist, added: "Women's biological sex is being erased and that terrifies me. Once you stop gathering information, that skews everything for women."

An ONS spokesman said the report is an update on research "on potentially collecting information on gender identity as well data on sex."

In a statement, he added: "It does not contain proposed census questions and suggests further research is required.

"ONS has yet to formulate its recommendations for the 2021 Census. Once it has done so, the Government will bring forward a white paper which will include the census questions.”