RISHI TAKES A STAND
Rishi declares ‘biological sex matters’ & says trans athletes in women’s sport is considered ‘unfair’ in TalkTV chat
RISHI Sunak declared "biological sex really matters" as he blasted the unfairness of transgender athletes competing in women's sport.
After Nicola Sturgeon and Keir Starmer both tied themselves in knots over the definition of a woman, the PM insisted "of course, I know what a woman is, an adult human female."
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Speaking to Piers Morgan on , Mr Sunak hit out at the trans debate saying "it doesn't strike most people as being fair."
He added: "Whether it's sex, whether it's women's spaces, whether it's prisons, biological sex really matters.
"And actually we saw that recently with what’s going on in Scotland."
Asked to define a woman, the PM added: "I'm married to one. I have two daughters.
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"And it's really important that they grow up in a society where their needs are respected, whether it's, you know, how they want to be treated when they're in changing rooms or sports, but also their safety."
Asked about pay rise demands from nurses following a wave of strikes in the NHS, Mr Sunak said "exemptions" should be made for them.
But he stopped short of promising free parking for nurses outside hospitals, a benefit enjoyed over the pandemic.
Piers blasted it "unfair" and "ridiculous" that nurses pay up to £1000 a year on parking.
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But Mr Sunak replied: "Everyone watching this show will get to work in lots of different ways.
"Of course I’m happy to look at that. Of course I am."
Asked whether deportation flights to Rwanda are "ever going to happen", Mr Sunak insisted "Yes".
He explained the Government are working their way through the courts on the issue but acknowledged there are actors who will "try and frustrate this".
Despite this, he said Rwanda is "a system that I think the vast majority of people watching will say, that 'sounds reasonable'".
Probed on UK support for Ukraine, Mr Sunak did not rule out sending British jets.
But he stressed: "These are incredibly sophisticated pieces of equipment that require months if not years for people to be trained on.
"It’s not just the equipment it’s also the capabilities and training that come alongside that."
On Wednesday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also refused to rule out sending planes to the war-torn nation.
Piers then turned to Mr Sunak's love of romcoms, with the Prime Minister admitting he was a fan of 2003 Christmas flick Love Actually.
He also revealed he proposed to Akshata - his wife of 13 years - on cliffs overlooking the sea in California.
Asked what love meant to him, he replied: "I wouldn’t be able to do this job without her love and support.
"I definitely am batting above my average."
Here we pick out the most telling exchanges in the interview:
RETURN TO POWER
PM: You got pretty much the worst imaginable hospital pass any incoming PM could ever wish to receive, which begs the question, what on earth did you want to do this for?
RS: For me it’s about duty. There’s a concept in Hinduism called dharma, which roughly translates into duty and that’s how I was raised.
‘SUNAKISM’ AND HOPE
PM: What’s the right mantra right now for the public? So many people are suffering. So many are worrying. What’s your message to them?
RS: It’s have hope. Have hope because I can make it better, and I will make it better. That’s what I’m working day and night to do.
PM: What is Sunakism?
RS: First of all, it’s about making sure people can feel proud of the UK, proud of our country and that they have peace of mind that things are going to be better for their children and grandchildren. That’s what I’m driven to deliver.
FIRST 100 DAYS
PM: How would you assess your first 100 days?
RS: I came in and it was a challenging situation. But I’m proud of what we’ve achieved. I’m proud.
PM: What have you achieved?
RS: First, and most importantly, is taking action to stabilise the economy. People were absolutely terrified about what was going to happen to their mortgages, what was going on.
I came in and we took pretty decisive action in the autumn statement to put in place an economic plan that brought borrowing under control, calmed the markets down, made sure that the increase in interest rates is going to be far less than people had feared. And that’s going to make an enormous difference to millions of people’s lives.
BORDERS
PM: One of the key things of Brexit was supposed to be getting control of our borders. It seems to be completely out of control. What are you actually going to do about that?
RS: Fairness really matters to me and I don’t think the current situation is fair. People coming here illegally, it’s not fair on those who are working hard, paying taxes, relying on public services. It’s not fair on those who migrate here legally and it’s actually not fair on those who desperately need our help from around the world and we’re not in a position to be able to help them because of what’s happening.
We have to fix all those things. The system that we need is one whereby, if you come here illegally, you should be swiftly detained and then in a matter of days or weeks we will hear your claim, not months and years, and then we will safely remove you somewhere else.
PM: Is Rwanda going to happen?
RS: Yes. We’re working our way through the courts with that and, of course, there are going to be people who try and frustrate this.
STRIKES AND THE NHS
PM: You’re being very resolute in standing up to the unions. It’s not proving very popular to the public. Do you not feel this duty that you talked about to actually take care of nurses and say, ‘Actually we do have to make certain exceptions’?
RS: You’re right, nurses should be an exception and that’s because they do an incredible job. People forget that during Covid, when I was Chancellor, we instituted a public sector pay freeze because wages for most people were going down. So everyone working in the public sector didn’t see their wages rise during Covid. You know what’s the one exception to that? It was people in the NHS. It was nurses.
PM: But are you going to deliver again now you’re PM?
RS: I would love to give the nurses a massive pay rise. Who wouldn’t? Certainly would make my life easier, wouldn’t it? Right, of course I would love to do that if I could.
PM: Well put them on one then.
RS: It’s about choices. Right now money going into the NHS is the biggest it’s ever been but we have to put that in lots of different places. We need to hire more doctors, more nurses. We need more scanning equipment so we can detect cancers.
TORY ‘SLEAZE’
PM: Are you comfortable about Dominic Raab staying in his job and not being suspended pending resolution of this investigation [into bullying allegations]?
RS: Yes, because I believe in due process. I believe people should have a fair hearing and that’s why we have an independent adviser.
UKRAINE
PM: Boris Johnson has been on manoeuvres, meeting President Zelensky, Senate leaders in America, almost acting like he’s still PM. Nadine Dorries has interviewed him for TalkTV and he says that you’re a submarine PM. Is it time to put the periscope up and unleash a little torpedo to remind Boris who the PM is?
RS: On Ukraine, I’m proud that I’ve been able to shift to a more proactive strategy.
PM: Will you send jets?
RS: We are always talking to the Ukrainians about the right support.
GENDER
PM: The world’s most controversial question bizarrely has become what is a woman? We know that Nicola Sturgeon can’t answer that. We know that Keir Starmer can’t answer that. You’re the British Prime Minister, what is a woman?
RS: Of course, I know what a woman is, an adult human female. What you’re actually asking when you ask that question is, I think, what’s my approach and view about how we as a society grapple with a situation where people are questioning or wanting to change their gender, their identity.
PM: We have just had the shocking case in Scotland where a male rapist who raped two women before he comes to trial suddenly decides to transition to be supposedly a woman. He gets convicted as a woman and then gets sent first of all to a woman’s prison where there will be other women for him to attack. It shows the problem of limitless gender self-identity, this is where it takes us.
RS: I completely agree with you. It absolutely does show some of the challenges with this. We have to recognise the challenges that poses particularly for women’s safety as we’ve just been discussing. That’s why biological sex really matters.
PM: To me, it’s immutable, it’s biological sex. When you see what’s happening in sport, where you see trans women athletes demolishing women, female athletes, what do you feel about that?
RS: Well, I think that doesn’t strike most people as being fair, right? So that’s why when it comes to these questions, biological sex matters.
RISHI THE GEEK
RS: I’m a big Star Wars fan.
PM: What force do you feel is with you?
RS: I hope The Force is with me. You need it in this job
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PM: Are you still a Coke addict?
RS: Yes, down to one a week
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