Rishi Sunak caught appearing to joke about trans people in leaked video footage

19 June 2023, 08:01 | Updated: 19 June 2023, 08:38

It comes after Sir Ed Davey told LBC that women "quite clearly" can have a penis, which Sunak appeared to mock
It comes after Sir Ed Davey told LBC that women "quite clearly" can have a penis, which Sunak appeared to mock. Picture: Getty/LBC
Kieran Kelly

By Kieran Kelly

Rishi Sunak has been caught appearing to joke about transgender people in leaked video footage from a recent meeting with the 1922 Committee.

Mr Sunak was caught joking about leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey after he previously told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that women "quite clearly" can have penises.

In footage obtained by PinkNews, Mr Sunak is heard saying: "Over the same period of time, you might have noticed Ed Davey has been very busy.

"Like me, you can probably see that he was trying to convince everybody that women clearly had penises.

"You’ll all know that I’m a big fan of everybody studying maths to 18, but it turns out that we need to focus on biology."

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Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis

Speaking in May, Sir Ed was by caller Mary whether he could name what a woman is.

He replied: "The truth is, Mary, the vast majority of people whose biological sex is a woman when they were birthed - they feel they're women.

"They feel they're gendered the same as at birth but there is a very small number of people who don't feel like that, and the law has recognised them for over 20 years now."

He added: "There's a small number of people who, actually, they have a tough time. They're harassed, they're discriminated against; real, serious mental health issues, and I think we need to debate this...with a bit more maturity and a bit more compassion."

Pressed further by LBC's Nick Ferrari on whether women can in fact have a penis, Sir Ed responded: "Quite clearly."

Read More: Women 'quite clearly' can have a penis, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey tells LBC

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The person who leaked the video to PinkNews said: "The veneer of freedom of speech publicly is one thing but to make jokes in private, it’s another thing altogether.

"You wouldn’t make jokes about other marginalised people the way he did about trans people."

They continued: "There was laughter, there were quite a few younger attendees who looked visibly uncomfortable.”

Kier Starmer is not doing enough to protects women's rights.

Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer has faced similar questions.

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, asked if he wanted to clarify his comment that one in 1,000 women do have a penis, Sir Keir replied: "No we don't need to do that.

"I was trying to create some common sense frameworks to the discussion that we inevitably have. By just starting with the common sense proposition that for the vast majority, let's say 99.9 per cent, biology matters.

"Women have won many rights, smashed glass ceilings, won on equality and discrimination.

"We can't roll any of that back and, in fact, there are more battles to be had for women."