Andy Burnham says the Supreme Court ruling on female-only spaces “shouldn’t be seen as a victory for one side over another”.
The Greater Manchester mayor was asked about the new guidance on single sex spaces following last year’s landmark ruling on the definition of a woman, to which he said the advice should be “implemented” but said the arguments on the matter needed to “stop”.
He 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.
“Lets implement the guidance, but to do it in the fairest and most compassionate way possible.”
He continued, saying he thought Britain had rerun the argument too much and instead, needed to find “some common ground” with one another.
“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.
However, he was clear the ruling, in which the Supreme Court unanimously decided in April 2025 the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, was not a “victory”.
Mr Burnham speaking at his campaign launch in Makerfield today
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PA
Labour’s Makerfield by-election candidate said: “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.”
However in 2022, the Greater Manchester mayor had a different stance on the matter.
Mr Burnham pictured at Manchester Pride parade last year
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WIKIPEDIA / RATHFELDER
He said at a meeting with Manchester’s “Youth Combined Authority” in 2022, the Greater Manchester Mayor said biological men who identify as women should be allowed to use female toilets.
In unearthed footage obtained by the Daily Mail, Mr Burnham also said the idea single-sex spaces should be exclusive for biological women was a “minority view”.
He dismissed gender-critical activists as “supposed feminists” trying to stir up “culture wars” by asking for protections in such spaces.
Opposition Assistant Whip Rebecca Paul said Mr Burnham is “still trapped in the ideological bubble of 2020”.
Speaking to GB News, the MP for Reigate said: “Andy Burnham is still trapped in the ideological bubble of 2020 while the rest of the country has moved on.
“Women do not have penises, men should not be in women’s toilets, and politicians who once pretended otherwise should at least have the honesty to admit they got it wrong.
“It will surprise absolutely no one that Burnham backed self-ID.
“What is extraordinary is that so many Labour politicians still seem incapable of admitting it was a catastrophic mistake. Women’s rights, privacy and safety were treated as an inconvenience to an ideology completely detached from reality.”
What Mr Burnham did say in 2022, which is consistent with his comments today is he had no appetite for culture wars and did not see advocates for transgender rights and women’s rights at odds with one another.
The Greater Manchester mayor has already made policy U-turns, for example, he has changed his position on Brexit since becoming the Makerfield by-election candidate for Labour.
Mr Burnham promised he would not “re-run” the Brexit debate, even though he previously said he would like to see the UK rejoin the EU during his lifetime.
In the EU referendum in 2016, 66 per cent of voters in Makerfield were in favour of leaving the EU.