Trans girls banned from joining Girlguiding
Trans girls will no longer be able to join Girlguiding, the organisation has announced, saying it has made the decision after seeking legal advice as a result of the supreme court ruling on gender earlier this year.Girlguiding on Tuesday said: “Trans girls and young women, and others not recorded female at birth, will no longer be able to join Girlguiding as new young members”.A statement from the organisation’s chair of trustees, Denise Wilson, chief executive, Felicity Oswald, and chief guide, Tracy Foster, said: “Following April’s supreme court ruling relating to sex and gender, many organisations across the country have been facing complex decisions about what it means for girls and women and for the wider communities affected.“Following detailed considerations, expert legal advice and input from senior members, young members and Girlguiding’s council, the board of trustees for Girlguiding has reached the difficult decision that, going forward, membership of Girlguiding will be restricted to girls and young women, as defined in the Equality Act.”It added that Girlguiding “believed strongly in inclusion” and would continue to support young people and adults in marginalised groups through a new taskforce.
“While Girlguiding may feel a little different going forward, our core aims and principles will always endure and we remain committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect, particularly those from marginalised groups that have felt the biggest impact of this decision,” the statement concluded.It is understood there will be no immediate changes for current members, and that no volunteers – who can be any gender, although some roles are only open to women – will have to leave the organisation.Girlguiding had been facing legal action from a parent over its policy allowing transgender girls to join as members and trans women to volunteer in roles reserved for women, claiming it “exposes girls to harassment”, the Times reported.Its policy allowing trans members was introduced to some criticism in 2018, but Girlguiding defended its decision by saying: “Simply being transgender does not make someone more of a safeguarding risk than any other person.”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 April, the supreme court ruled that for the purposes of the Equality Act, the legal definition of a woman was based on biological sex, with significant ramifications for who can now access women-only services and spaces.
Some companies have barred transgender people from using toilets of their lived gender, while others are still in limbo as they navigate a “minefield” of competing legal rights.Many are still waiting for an updated code of practice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which will offer practical guidance on how to apply the ruling.
Thames Water profits surge on higher bills; Prada buys Versace for $1.4bn – business live
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.Thames Water has reported a leap in half-year pre-tax profit to £386m, even as it warned that it faced huge uncertainties over funding that could see it collapse rapidly into government control.Britain’s biggest water company on Wednesday said it had swung into profit for the six months to September, after losing £230m in the same period in 2024.Yet despite the reported profits, the company warned there was “material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt” on its status as a going concern. A collapse into government control under a special administration regime “could occur in the very near term” if it is unable to agree the terms of a formal takeover by its controlling lenders
Airbus cuts plane delivery target amid A320 fuselage problem
Airbus has cut its plane delivery target for this year after it identified a problem with the fuselage panels on its bestselling A320 family of aircraft that has forced it to inspect hundreds of jets.The world’s largest plane manufacturer said it would now deliver “around 790” commercial aircraft this year, a drop of 30 from its previous target of 820 planes.Airlines around the world cancelled and delayed flights over the weekend after the French firm ordered immediate fixes to software updates on 6,000 of its A320s, more than half of its global fleet.While most of the glitches were fixed by Monday, the company then identified separate quality problems on metal panels at the front of some planes.Reuters reported that a presentation to airlines showed that the total number of planes needing inspections was 628, including 168 already in service, 245 in assembly lines and 215 in an earlier stage of production known as major component assembly
Anti-immigrant material among AI-generated content getting billions of views on TikTok
Hundreds of accounts on TikTok are garnering billions of views by pumping out AI-generated content, including anti-immigrant and sexualised material, according to a report.Researchers said they had uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts pushing 43,000 posts made with generative AI tools and accumulating 4.5bn views over a month-long period.According to AI Forensics, a Paris-based non-profit, some of these accounts attempt to game TikTok’s algorithm – which decides what content users see – by posting large amounts of content in the hope that it goes viral.One posted up to 70 times a day or at the same time of day, an indication of an automated account, and most of the accounts were launched at the beginning of the year
Tesla privately warned UK that weakening EV rules would hit sales
Tesla privately warned the UK government that weakening electric vehicle rules would hit battery car sales and risk the country missing its carbon dioxide targets, according to newly revealed documents.The US electric carmaker, run by Elon Musk, also called for “support for the used-car market”, according to submissions to a government consultation earlier this year obtained by the Fast Charge, a newsletter covering electric cars.The Labour government in April worried some electric carmakers by weakening rules, known as the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The mandate forces increased sales of EVs each year, but new loopholes allowed carmakers to sell more petrol and diesel cars.New taxes on electric cars in last week’s budget could further undermine demand, critics have said
The Spin | Pink-ball wizard: batters on facing ‘devastating weapon’ Mitchell Starc
That tall, fast and slim kid, sure bowls a mean pink ball.Leading into Thursday’s crucial second Test match, a day-night affair at Brisbane’s Gabba, much has been made of Mitchell Starc’s pink-ball wizardry. With 81 wickets at an average of 17.08, the lissom-limbed southpaw seamer has more wickets than any other with the pink’un in hand. Just what English supporters want to read as their side pitches up at a ground where they haven’t won a Test match in 39 years
World Athletics scraps landing zone idea to avoid ‘war’ with long jump athletes
World Athletics has scrapped controversial plans to introduce a take-off zone for the long jump rather than the traditional board because of widespread hostility from athletes, the Guardian can reveal.Jon Ridgeon, World Athletics’ chief executive, said that while the proposals had trialled well, “ultimately you do not want to go to war with your most important group of people”.The idea of introducing a wide take-off zone was to reduce the number of foul jumps because athletes would no longer be required to try to hit a narrow board before jumping into the sand pit.However, the Olympic long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou described the proposal as “dog shit” because it took much of the skill out of the event, while Carl Lewis called it an “April Fool’s joke”.“The reality is the athletes do not want to embrace it,” Ridgeon admitted
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