Transgenderism - Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tells the nation: 'Men are men. Women are women. That is common sense'

​That was the message the Prime Minister delivered about gender ideology on Wednesday, following on from scathing remarks a day earlier from his home secretary on the same subject.

​Mr Sunak told the party faithful in his Tory conference speech: “In too many parts of our permanent state, virtue signalling has replaced common sense.

“It shouldn’t be controversial for parents to know what their children are being taught in school about relationships.

"Patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women.

“And we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t.

"A man is a man, and a woman is a woman.

"That’s just common sense.”

Earlier, Health Secretary Steve Barclay had announced that people who were born male but now describe themselves as female (commonly referred to in the media as “trans women”) will be banned from female NHS wards.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman had also made a commitment that she would forbid sex offenders from changing gender, effectively giving themselves a new identity and access to a women’s prison.

Ms Braverman’s speech a day before the Prime Minister’s saw her attack “gender ideology”, calling it “poison” and telling Tories they needed to fight back or it would spread further.

This prompted heckling that saw Conservative London Assembly member Andrew Boff removed from the conference centre.

Mr Boff told the PA news agency after his removal: “This Home Secretary was basically vilifying gay people and trans people by this attack on LGBT ideology, or gender ideology. It is fictitious, it is ridiculous.

“It is a signal to people who don’t like people who are LGBT+ people.”

On Tuesday, it was revealed that no entries had been received for the new open category at the Swimming World Cup in Berlin this weekend.

World Aquatics introduced the category for transgender people after voting last year to ban male-born athletes from competing in female events.

More on this topic from the News Letter:

• Transgenderism: Former NI first minister Edwin Poots likens puberty blockers to child abuse

• TUV mount ferocious attack on transgender law change dubbing Scottish act 'homophobic and immoral'

• Transgenderism: News Letter deep dive into school survey reveals percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds saying they’re neither male nor female

• Transgenderism: Major Irish teaching union under fire from Jordan Peterson over video encouraging teachers to help pupils switch gender - watch the video and judge for yourself