UK’s first trans judge appeals to European court of human rights over supreme court ruling
Britain’s first transgender judge is taking the UK to the European court of human rights over the supreme court’s ruling on biological sex.The UK supreme court ruled earlier this month that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act referred only to a biological woman and to biological sex, with subsequent guidance from the equality watchdog amounting to a blanket ban on trans people using toilets and other services of the gender they identify as.Victoria McCloud, a retired judge, is applying to the European court of human rights to bring action against the UK for infringement of her article 6 rights.Article 6 of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) guarantees the right to a fair trial in both criminal and civil matters.Last year, McCloud sought leave to join the litigation in the supreme court case brought by the gender critical campaigners For Women Scotland against the Scottish government, arguing it could significantly affect legal protections for transgender women, but was rejected.
McCloud, now a litigation strategist at W-Legal, told the Guardian: “The basis is that the supreme court refused to hear me, or my evidence, to provide them with information about the impact on those trans people affected by the judgment and failed to give any reasons.”“Those are two basic premises of normal justice.There were protest groups speaking on behalf of women in this court case, but ordinary women were not actually represented as a whole.“The disabled were not represented, and now we’re seeing the Conservatives saying that trans people have got to use the disabled loos, which impacts the lives of disabled people.The impacts of all of this have not been dealt with.
”The supreme court judgment, and subsequent guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the watchdog that enforces the Equality Act, has sent shock waves through the UK’s transgender community and left many business and services unclear about what facilities they are expected to offer.In an “interim update” on how the ruling should be interpreted, the EHRC said on Friday that in workplaces and services open to the public, such as hospitals or cafes, “trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities”.Over the weekend, the Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said it was “a logical consequence” that transgender people would be banned from using the toilets of the gender they identify as.McCloud said that, rather than resulting in clarity, the judgment and subsequent government and commission statement had “brought chaos”.“There’s chaos because we’ve got the supreme court saying one thing, and we’ve got the government and the EHRC saying another, we’ve got planning rules that the last government set, whereby inclusive bathrooms are supposed to be discouraged.
”McCloud’s comments came as Carla Denyer MP, the Green party co-leader, asked how the government would respond “both to distress within the trans community and further confusion for employers, businesses and service providers who are trying to understand what the supreme court ruling means for them”.Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionIn a letter to the equalities minister Bridget Phillipson, Denyer asked whether trans and non-binary people had been consulted in the drafting of the EHRC’s latest update and warned of the “risks of encouraging vigilante policing of public facilities”.Denyer repeated her call for the interim update to be withdrawn “until it is possible for guidance to be issued which provides real clarity and has taken into account the experiences of all those who will be affected by it”.Resident doctors working in the NHS also condemned the supreme court’s ruling on gender as having “no basis in science or medicine”.Medics at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) resident doctors conference in London passed a motion stating that “attempting to impose a rigid binary has no basis in science or medicine”.
While the motion was passed at the conference it will not become BMA policy unless voted on at the union’s annual meeting later this year.There are tens of thousands of resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – working in the NHS.
UK Ikea boss backs calls to pedestrianise Oxford Street as flagship store opens
The UK boss of Ikea has backed calls to pedestrianise Oxford Street as the world’s largest furniture retailer finally opens its delayed store in London’s prime shopping destination.The Swedish company’s three-floor shop in the building that used to be Topshop’s former flagship store, with a mix of meatballs, lampshades and kitchen design assistance, opens on Thursday, 18 months later than planned.Sitting in one of the mini-room sets designed to show off Ikea’s range of furnishings at the new store, Peter Jekelby, the chief executive of Ikea’s UK business, said he thought a plan to pedestrianise Oxford Street, backed by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, would be “good for the street” and “make it easier to move around”.Khan said the Ikea store was “a huge vote of confidence in London, in our economy and in our plans to rejuvenate Oxford Street” and that attracting new companies would help “create new jobs and increase footfall”.He said the “bold proposals” to pedestrianise Oxford Street were subject to consultation that closes on 2 May “so I encourage everyone to have their say”
The grass is not always greener on US stock markets
Donald Trump is doing an excellent job of demonstrating that US stock markets don’t always outperform European ones.On-off tariff wars, threats to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and general unpredictability have prompted a reappraisal of boring old Europe. The S&P 500 is down 6% this year, versus a gain of 2.5% for FTSE 100 index and a 3% improvement in the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600. The differences aren’t enormous but they mark a reversal from recent years
White House calls Amazon ‘hostile’ for reportedly planning to list tariff costs
The White House accused Amazon of committing a “hostile and political act” after a report said the e-commerce company was planning to inform customers how much Donald Trump’s tariffs would cost them as they shopped.The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was responding to a report in Punchbowl News, which, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that Amazon would begin displaying on its site how much the tariffs had increased the prices of individual products, breaking out the figure from the total listed price.“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” Leavitt asked during a press briefing.Trump himself called Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s billionaire founder, shortly after the report published to complain about the change, according to multiple reports.Amazon’s online marketplace has seen prices rise across the board since Trump announced sweeping tariffs at the start of April, particularly on China, where many products listed on Amazon
Can US monopoly laws rein in Silicon Valley?
The European Union fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of dollars last week.My colleague Jennifer Rankin reports:The European Commission has fined Apple €500m (£429m) and Meta €200m for breaking rules on fair competition and user choice, in the first penalties issued under one of the EU’s landmark internet laws.The fines under the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is intended to ensure fair business practices by tech companies, are likely to provide another flashpoint with Donald Trump’s administration, which has fiercely attacked Europe’s internet regulation.The Trump administration was indeed quick to rebuke the fines: a national security council spokesperson told Politico that the EU’s moves were a “novel form of economic extortion” that “will not be tolerated by the United States”.Interesting, too, is that while the penalties are no small amount of money, their impact likely pales in comparison to the scrutiny the tech companies are facing in the US
Next Wallabies coach Les Kiss: a mongrel mix of league and union, coach and strategist
Les Kiss was an injured rugby league winger looking down the barrel of retirement and a day job flogging poker machines when the idea of a career in coaching struck. The art of gelling many disparate personalities into one united team intrigued him. “On the sideline I saw the game differently,” he realised. “I started thinking deeply.”The ex-North Sydney Bear turned Queensland Reds boss has plenty to think on now, having been appointed as Wallabies coach from mid-2026
Jacob Fearnley bows out of Madrid Open as tennis resumes after power outage
Jacob Fearnley has not been a full-time professional player for a full year, yet on an unforgettable Monday afternoon in Madrid, he found himself in a bizarre scenario that many of the best players in the world would struggle with.Fearnley, a qualifier at the Madrid Open, had been mounting a courageous last stand against the veteran 14th seed, Grigor Dimitrov, when the city and country came to a standstill. With Dimitrov leading 6-4, 5-4 in Manolo Santana Stadium, both players were sent off the court as it became clear that Monday’s power outage that left Spain and Portugal without electricity would force the tournament to suspend all matches for the day. For Fearnley, this meant he had over 24 hours to ponder how exactly that crucial service game would pan out: “It’s impossible not to overthink it,” he said.After about 10 hours without electricity and mobile internet for most people in Madrid, power to homes and phones returned late on Monday night, prompting cheers in the streets
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