Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of using transgender issues “as a political football to divide people” during their head-to-head debate on Wednesday.
The pair clashed in response to a question about whether they would protect women’s rights to single-sex spaces, regardless of whether people have a gender recognition certificate.
The prime minister said he would “unequivocally” change the law “so that the old Equalities Act recognises that sex means biological sex”.
Starmer said he would protect women’s spaces but would not amend legislation in order to do so.
The Labour leader told the BBC debate at Nottingham Trent University that Sunak should read the current laws and argued the protections are there. “Don’t just use this as a political football to divide people,” he said.
Starmer added: “What I will also say is that I do recognise that there are a small number of people who are born into a gender that they don’t identify with, and I will treat them, as I treat all human beings, with dignity and respect.
“I’ll tell you why, because if you don’t, we end up with the prime minister of the United Kingdom standing in parliament making an anti-trans joke in front of the mother of a murdered trans teenager.”
Sunak replied: “That’s not what I did. I was pointing out that you’ve changed your mind on this question multiple times.”
Starmer was referencing Sunak being accused of mocking trans people in the Commons as the mother of the murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey visited parliament in February.
The prime minister said at the time the Labour leader was incapable of “defining a woman” and that it was among a number of issues on which he had performed a U-turn. Esther Ghey was in the public gallery four days after her 16-year-old daughter’s killers were jailed for life.
There was no winner in the BBC prime ministerial debate, according to a YouGov snap poll with 50% saying Sunak performed best and 50% Starmer.