Wes Streeting has apologised to Labour MP Rosie Duffield over the way she has been treated during the party’s internal debate over trans rights.
The shadow education secretary spoke out after Labour shifted its position on the issue.
In a major change of approach, Keir Starmer last week ruled out allowing trans people to self-ID, abandoning his previous support for the change.
It means if Labour wins the next election, trans people will still not be able to legally change gender without a medical diagnosis.
Duffield has previously threatened to quit the Labour Party over what she described as “obsessive harassment” from some of its members over her position on trans rights.
She said last year: “Neither the Labour Party or either the former or current leader or the whips’ office have done anything at all to stop it, to offer me any support, help or legal assistance.”
Speaking on Times Radio yesterday, Streeting said: “I’m really sorry about the way Rosie’s been treated.
“I worked very closely with Rosie when she was first elected. We did lots of stuff, particularly on Brexit, together and on anti-Semitism together, and this is the challenge of this topic, it’s sometimes created a wedge between friends.
“There are times when Rosie has tweeted or liked certain things and I’ve been really upset, and there are times where I’ve taken a much more defensive position around trans equality and Rosie’s felt that me personally and others haven’t listened.
“And that’s why I think we’ve got to try and find a better way through this, to create a culture in which friendships aren’t divided, families aren’t divided and countries aren’t divided.”
Duffield tweeted her thanks to Streeting for his comments.