Rishi Sunak says ‘a woman is a woman’ in speech and insists we shouldn’t be ‘bullied’ over gender identity

"We shouldn’t get bullied."

At this point, Sunak was interrupted by loud applause from Tory delegates including his Cabinet colleagues.

When it died down, he continued: "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."

The conference again erupted into applause and cheers, with some in the audience whistling.

Brits have been able to change their legal sex through Gender Recognition Certificates since 2004.

It is unclear whether Sunak now intends to trash the law.

Labour's Pat McFadden MP said: "We've had 13 years and five Tory Prime Ministers.

"Rishi Sunak’s latest desperate attempt to reset his weak leadership and divided government won’t fool the British public who are looking at Tory failures all around them.

"The Tories have let Britain down for too long. They cannot be the change from their own failures.

"The damage they would do with five more years would be intolerable for working people."

Sunak used his speech in Manchester to announce that the HS2 leg to the city will be scrapped.

He instead vowed to splash out £36billion on public transport across the Midlands and the North.

The Prime Minister also wants to stop anyone under the age of 14 from ever legally buying a cigarette.

He plans to replace A-Levels with a new qualification combining them with vocational T-Levels.

And Sunak pledged to cut taxes as soon as inflation drops - and to stop asylum seekers from reaching Britain "whatever the cost".