LABOUR leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has sparked a furious public backlash after bluntly declaring that biological men who identify as women have the “full right” to use women’s public toilets.
In a shocking move that has left voters reeling, the Greater Manchester Mayor dismissed the millions of Brits who want to protect single-sex spaces as merely a “small minority.”
The bombshell comments—unearthed from a leaked video of a private meeting—have triggered allegations that the ambitious politician is pushing a secret, politically correct agenda to win over woke activists as he plots a ruthless bid for 10 Downing Street.
But furious campaigners and senior politicians last night hit back, branding the King of the U-turns “shockingly out of touch” with ordinary hard-working families.
‘OUT OF TOUCH’
The toxic row threatens to plunge Keir Starmer’s Labour Party straight back into its nightmare “woman problem”—the very same issue that left top left-wingers utterly baffled and unable to define what a woman actually is for years.
Tory equalities spokesman Claire Coutinho led a fierce counter-attack against Burnham’s remarks, reminding the high-flying mayor that protecting women is not a fringe view—it is the law.
“Protecting the safety, dignity and privacy of women is not a minority view – it’s the law,” Coutinho declared fiercely.
“It is a gross injustice that women have been raped in prison, lost their spots on sports podiums, or lost their jobs for stating biological sex is real.
“But that has happened because people like Andy did not think women’s rights were worth fighting for – it is shockingly out of touch.”
Andy Burnham displays his support for the LGBT community at last year’s Manchester Pride Parade
The Manchester mayor has signalled he will mount a leadership bid if he wins the Makerfield by-election
THE LEAKED TAPE
The drama erupted after bombshell footage emerged from a 2022 meeting between Burnham and Manchester’s “youth combined authority.”
When asked directly whether biological males who self-identify as women should be allowed into female restrooms, Burnham did not hold back. He said: “Clearly there is a group of people who do feel that toilets should be a safe space only for women and there should not be anyone biologically a male allowed in that space.”
He then added the controversial kicker:
“I don’t think that’s a majority view. I think it’s a minority view and quite a small minority view, actually.”
Shamefully, Burnham even tried to minimize the deeply held safety concerns of women across Britain, suggesting the only people who care about keeping men out of women’s toilets are those who “have experienced male violence at some point in their life.”
He snidely blasted campaigners demanding protected spaces as “supposed feminists” who are simply trying to spark toxic “culture wars.”
THE BID FOR POWER
Insiders say Burnham’s provocative comments have everything to do with his desperate thirst for power.
The mayor has made no secret of his grand plan to mount a spectacular leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer. To do that, he needs to win next month’s crucial by-election in the Greater Manchester constituency of Makerfield—a seat left vacant after scandal-hit minister Josh Simons quit last week.
But his woke toilet tirade could blow up in his face on the doorstep. One senior Whitehall source warned: “I think Andy may find that the idea that men should stay out of the women’s toilets is not a minority view in Makerfield.”
KING OF THE U-TURNS
Experts say Burnham’s stance exposes a total lack of understanding of what regular voters actually want.
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, ripped into the Labour heavyweight.
“All the polling shows most people want single-sex provision, and don’t think that men who identify as women should be allowed into women-only spaces,” Joyce said. “Dismissing this debate as ‘polarised’ and ‘hateful’ is a cheap rhetorical move. Women asserting our boundaries aren’t hateful.”
It is just the latest embarrassing headache for Burnham, who has already been mocked as the “King of the U-turns” by critics.
Just this week, the flip-flopping politician performatively abandoned his passionate crusade to drag Britain back into the EU, suddenly claiming he no longer wants to rejoin. Hours later, he executed a second humiliating screeching U-turn by backing Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ strict economic rules—despite previously ranting that Britain shouldn’t be “in hock to the bond markets.”
Now, as he begs Makerfield voters for their trust, Burnham faces a massive fight to prove he cares more about British women than his own political ambition.
