Leadership contender Lisa Nandy (left) and deputy leadership contender Dawn Butler have clashed over trans prisoners (Pictures: Rex/Getty)

Dawn Butler has said violent transitioning male prisoners ‘should never’ be allowed in women’s jails, as a Labour row over trans rights rages on.

After contradicting comments by leadership contender Lisa Nandy, the shadow women and equalities secretary went on to admit that Labour has ‘a problem’ with transphobia which has left some members ‘scared’ to attend meetings.

Now running for the party’s deputy leadership, Ms Butler also said it is ‘vital’ that the next leader or second in command is female.

Last week, she signed a pledge from a trans campaign that called for people who expressed ‘bigoted, transphobic views’ to be expelled from Labour and branded Woman’s Place UK and LGB Alliance ‘trans-exclusionist hate groups’.




Amid a widening party split over trans and women’s rights, Ms Nandy had been asked at a hustings whether Zoe Lynes (previously known as Christopher Worton), a transgender woman convicted of raping a girl, should be accommodated at a female or male prison.

Lisa Nandy at Channel 4’s Labour Leadership Debate last night (Picture: REX)

She replied: ‘I believe fundamentally in people’s right to self-ID.

‘I think trans women are women, I think trans men are men, so I think they should be accommodated in a prison of their choosing.’

But when pressed for her position today, Ms Butler told Metro.co.uk: ‘There are bodies and advisory bodies within the judicial system that everybody would need to go through before that would even be considered and that (violent trans women prisoners in a female prison) should never happen.’

Asked directly if she disagreed with backbencher Ms Nandy’s stance, she added: ‘Yes… the prisons service has a separate area anyway and they have discretionary ways of dealing with trans prisoners.

‘So the prison service already have all of those considerations.’

The Labour Campaign for Trans Rights said earlier that leadership candidates Rebecca Long-Bailey and Ms Nandy have signed the pledge, while front-runner Sir Keir Starmer has not. Deputy contenders Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and Angela Rayner have also signed along with Ms Butler, while Richard Burgon and Ian Murray have not.

In a statement, the organisation told Metro.co.uk: ‘We believe that due to the transphobic nature of society, a culture that is transphobic, or at the very least non-confrontational to transphobic views, is enmeshed within the fabric of the Labour Party, and our campaign seeks to help confront the issue of transphobia head on.’

Ms Butler doubled down on her support for the campaign this morning, saying that the groups named in the pledge had ‘displayed some transphobia’.

But she admitted that she had to ‘clarify’ some of the ‘troubling’ wording and claimed that the wider trans debate had been made deliberately ‘toxic’ by the government.

Yesterday the Brent Central MP faced widespread criticism for suggesting that children are born ‘without a sex’, while discussing trans rights on Good Morning Britain.

Ms Butler says some members are ‘scared’ to attend meetings (Picture: Getty Images)

Stressing the need for representation and diversity from different communities, Ms Butler said today that Labour ‘can, will and should’ elect a trans MP – but called for the party to ‘do more’ on the issue.



She added: ‘We are failing on a few areas of representation.

‘There is a problem (in the Labour Party) around the discussion around trans issues and it just has to be dealt with.

‘You can’t have people who feel that they can’t attend a meeting because they are scared or worried.’

Ms Butler added that concerns had also been raised about ‘some transphobic motions’ being passed but said there is a discussion to be had ‘around single-sex services’ without ‘pitching one group against another.’

Having previously nominated Emily Thornberry – who did not make the final round of the leadership contest – she also said she ‘would like’ the next leader to be a woman, and ideally have an all-female top team leading the party from April 4.

Ms Butler, who has previously spoken out about her experiences of racism in Parliament, said the Conservative government are ‘scared’ of her as a black woman.

If she becomes deputy leader, she says she would force any Labour MP who steps down from the party to call a by-election.

Ms Nandy’s campaign team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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