Andy Burnham has called for Britain to have a “‘live and let live’ approach to life” when asked about newly-published single-sex spaces guidance.
The Greater Manchester mayor – who is widely seen as Sir Keir Starmer’s main rival for the Labour leadership if he wins a by-election next month – said people need to “stop arguing”, find common ground and “start pulling together”.
He said while the “time has come” to implement guidance on the basis of a landmark Supreme Court ruling on biological sex last year, it must be done in “the fairest and most compassionate way possible”.
The code of practice for services, public functions and associations – which would apply across England, Scotland and Wales – has been updated in full by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for the first time since 2011 and covers nine protected characteristics including sex and gender reassignment.
It is aimed at guiding businesses and other organisations such as leisure centres and hospitals on how they can follow equality law, including in provision of single and separate-sex services such as toilets and changing-rooms.
Its publication this week – confirming single-sex services must be used on the basis of biological sex and not gender identity – has been welcomed by women’s rights campaigners, but some trans rights groups have branded its content “exclusionary”.
The updated guidance – which was laid before Parliament on Thursday and is now open to scrutiny – came just more than a year after the Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
Speaking at his campaign launch on Friday for the Makerfield by-election, Mr Burnham said: “I think the time has come to take the Supreme Court ruling and the guidance, and implement it, but to do it in a way that protects those spaces but does not marginalise already marginalised communities, that’s my view.
“My mum and dad brought me up to live and let live. I think Britain needs to get back to a more ‘live and let live’ approach to life, not where we’re constantly arguing with each other, being judgmental about each other.
“Let’s implement the guidance, but do it in the fairest and most compassionate way possible.”
He said he thought Britain had done too much of rerunning arguments.
“We’ve got to stop arguing with each other. We’ve got to start by finding some common ground and start pulling together,” he said.
He added: “The Supreme Court was really clear that while spaces should be protected, so people are not in that position, the ruling shouldn’t be seen as a victory one side over another.
“They were very clear about that and it’s about not further marginalising communities that already feel very marginalised.
“I just think that’s really, really important, and it’s incumbent on all of us now not to constantly come back to what divides us. We’ve got to move forward.”
