Stalled guidance on gender issues will only hurt kids and teachers more

RISHI SUNAK may have a lot on his plate after those lacklustre by-election performances.

But he really needs to rethink his ­decision to delay guidance for schools on how to deal with transgender pupils.

The Prime Minister initially promised the advice would come before the summer holidays.

That’s now on hold indefinitely after legal advice suggested part of the proposed guidelines could be unlawful.

Meanwhile, schools will return in September to more confusion and an ever-growing number of children declaring they no longer identify with the “gender assigned to them at birth”.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan says the Government needs more time, and “in the meantime, schools and colleges should proceed with extreme caution”.

But it is increasingly obvious that all the caution in the world is not going to help teachers work out how to deal with this.

Some have already lost their jobs for getting it wrong.

Headteachers have had to issue apologies left, right and centre, and parents caught in the middle are worried sick.

In this minefield of political correctness, teachers need a route map now.

Are they allowed to talk to parents if a child changes their name or asks to use different pronouns?

How are they supposed to respond to kids “socially transitioning” and changing their appearance, hairstyle and clothes?

Who do they allow to use which changing rooms and loos?

To me, it’s a no-brainer.

Of course parents should be involved in that conversation, just as they would be involved in any discussion of the life, welfare and wellbeing of their under-18 child.

It’s absolutely barmy this is even a debate.

And yet, everyone is tiptoeing around desperately worried about saying or doing the wrong thing.

For the children caught in the middle of this, at the most difficult time of their lives, it must be incredibly confusing.

I look back on the halcyon days when my teachers would start the day by saying, “Good morning, boys and girls.”

Could we ever have believed this phrase would be branded misogynistic, transphobic, chauvinistic, and a whole host of other offences too?

Which is how we now find ourselves in the truly mad situation where teachers are being pressured to accept children identifying as anything from cats to moons.

Delays and dithers

It is how we got to the point where one teacher was recorded last month calling a pupil “despicable” and suggesting she attend a different school for saying that she believed gender was determined by biological sex.

That occurred during a Year 8 class on “life education” at Rye College in East Sussex, where students were told to “be who you want to be — and how you identify is up to you”.

It is a classroom mess- age that’s by no means unique.

In the meantime, more schools are introducing “gender-neutral” toilets, which bring problems of their own, as shown by three reported sex attacks on schoolgirls in such bathrooms at an Essex school.

And while the Government delays and dithers, the new academic year will begin with no clarity on how to fix this.

It’s been reported ministers were considering telling schools to forbid “social transitioning” altogether.

But the legal advice was that such a ban would be unlawful.

Now the Government has to work out what to do next — either amend guidance in line with existing law or try to change the law.

OK, it is very tricky.

Personally, I believe a complete ban on transitioning in schools is unrealistic, given where we are now.

We have to try to do the caring thing for all children and not demonise anyone, wherever they stand on such a sensitive issue.

But the most important, and non- negotiable aspect of all of this, in my view, is that parents must be part of any conversation around their child.

Tamzin’s happy recipe for sweet revenge

THOSE photos of Tamzin Outhwaite looking fabulous at 52 were such a treat.

“I’m now at a stage in my life where I have become really comfortable in my own skin and really like myself,” the actress told The Sun.

I suspect her 32-year-old boyfriend, personal trainer Tom Child, has something to do with that.

It is also ten years since Lucifer star Tom Ellis, her ex-husband and father of her two children, walked out after cheating on her.

Good for you, Tamzin.

Looking great and being happy really is the best revenge.

Sign to grab a pastry

I HAD to laugh when I saw Jennifer Lopez was locked out of the gym and had to stand outside knocking on the door.

It was just a little reminder that celebrities are humans too.

Although I couldn’t help wondering why J-Lo doesn’t have her own gym.

Most of us mere mortals would have taken that hiccup as a sign to cancel the workout and treat ourselves to coffee and a pastry.

Blitz on abusers overdue

FINALLY, it looks as if the criminal justice system is about to crack down on men who kill their wives or partners at the end of a relationship.

Ministers have unveiled proposals which seek to lengthen the prison sentences for abusers who go on to murder.

And men who use gratuitous violence against partners will also spend longer behind bars.

About time.

And the best way to protect victims of domestic violence is to ensure the most serious offenders spend longer in prison, both as a punishment and a deterrent to others.

Short sentences send the message that we do not value the lives of women.

The idea that if a man once had a relationship with his victim then he deserves less punishment than a random attacker is outrageous.

Everyone should have the right to feel safe in their own home.

So it is right the new sentencing guidelines reflect the seriousness of violence and abuse which is committed by those closest to the victims.

The reality is that domestic murder is rarely an isolated incident.

These crimes are often the culmination of years of abuse by the murderer, usually a man, against the victim, usually a woman.

In future this will all add up to extra jail time.

And not a day too soon

Going postal at pay

MY mind boggled when I saw the sums Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylie Jenner can earn for a single post on Instagram.

The football legend, 38, has just overtaken the cosmetics mogul and former Keeping Up With The Kardashians star to become the platform’s highest-paid celebrity, earning £1.87million for a single post.

Kylie, 25, meanwhile, has to settle for a mere £1.47million a time.
It’s no wonder almost everyone seems to be striking for a pay rise.

A just hit to cause

WHETHER you agree with them or not, Just Stop Oil’s slow-marching campaigns are really backfiring.

They have been kettled by counter-protesters, and members have been assaulted and threatened by angry motorists.

One frantic woman trapped behind them last week told protesters: “I have got a baby in my car and we have to get to hospital.”

But they STILL didn’t allow her past.