In recent weeks, Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, has twice publicly re-stated her views on the importance of single sex spaces. 

She first did so via a speech she made to the Centre for Policy Studies think tank. She said '...This focus on groups at the expense of individuals has led to harmful unintended consequences. It has led to the Left turning a blind eye to practices that undermine equality, whether it be failing to defend single-sex spaces, hard fought for by generations of women...' 

She did so again via an article in the Daily Mail. She said 'the Left has allowed insidious practices to threaten equality. For example, it has failed to defend the single-sex spaces that were won by the hard work of women over generations'. 

It's curious that these statements were made via a swipe at the left rather than directly. Perhaps Truss is fighting within the Conservative Party for a clear mandate to make an unequivocal commitment to women's single sex spaces. If so, we must continue to provide her with the evidence she needs to show that women, as we always have, value our rights to privacy, dignity, and safety. Robert Jenrick, in his role as Minister of Housing, Communities, and Local Government has provided an opportunity for us to do so. He has launched a consultation on toilet provision. It's very simple, calling for free-form email responses. 

Jenrick is clear in his views. Gender neutral toilets disadvantage women:

'In recent years, there has been a trend towards the removal of well-established male-only / female-only spaces when premises are built or refurbished, and they have often been replaced with gender-neutral toilets. This places women at a significant disadvantage... Women also need safe spaces given their particular health and sanitary needs... Women are also likely to feel less comfortable using mixed sex facilities, and require more space'.

Jenrick is aware that the 'toilet issue' has come to the fore recently as part of the surge in gender ideology which promotes the idea that 'inner gender identity' can trump biological sex. This has been used to argue that people should be able to use the toilet facilities and other spaces that match their self-identified 'gender' rather than their sex.

'The government wants to ensure dignity and respect for all. The Equality Act provides that sex, age, disability and gender reassignment are protected characteristics. This does not mean that gender-specific toilets should be replaced with gender-neutral toilets. But there should be balanced consideration of how the needs of all those with protected characteristics should be considered, based on the mix of the population and customer demand.'

Balanced consideration is certainly what is needed. In a tolerant world people should be free to express themselves however they like, and to explore different forms of self-expression and self-identity. However, this does not alter the binary nature of biological sex. It doesn't justify over-riding established language used by the overwhelming majority, such as the meaning of words like 'man' or 'woman'. It cannot be used to over-ride women's right to single sex spaces. 

I would like to highlight one example of the world we'll end up in if we do allow identity exploration to over-ride established science, language, and the right to single sex spaces. It's an unworkable and unfair world. I refer to the circumstances that led to the 'Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover' case and which Maya Forstater has written about here. 

The case concerns Taylor, a man who began to wear women’s clothing to work as part of a process of exploring his gender. According to Forstater 'Taylor was known by his male name Sean during the course of his employment, and was referred to using male pronouns by colleagues and bosses'. Some of the details of the case, as summarised by Forstater, are as follows:

'Sean Taylor had worked at Jaguar Land Rover as an engineer for 20 years. He was based at Gaydon – a complex with some 13,000 staff... In the building where he worked there were over 1,000 people... In March 2017 Taylor told HR that he was transgender... He said he wished to dress in a male style on some days and a female style on others... The case against Jaguar Land Rover was that in not protecting him from colleagues’ comments, and asking him at one point to use the accessible unisex toilets, they engaged in a course of harassment and discrimination... On 24 May 2017 Taylor met with his manager ... [who said] that Taylor should use the disabled toilets... On 19 September 2017 Taylor sent an email to a manager, saying: “I don’t know what toilet to use, I raised this three times with no progress over six weeks. I spoke to HR twice about moving as part of the transition at work, but this was ignored.”.. On 11 October 2017, in a grievance meeting, Taylor again raised the toilet issue, saying: “I am transgender, and I struggle with what toilet I should use…I understand it is difficult to resolve but I am not having any feedback and who will fix it?”... Finally... there were a series of discussions between local management and HR, and it was decided to allow Taylor to use whatever toilets he wanted on any given day:..'

The Employment Trubunal was not satisfied with Taylor being given full access to the female toilets, even as he continued also to use the men's. 'It said that Jaguar Land Rover should have put in place measures to “prevent her having to deal with challenges over the toilets she was using”'. The Employment Tribunal ruled that 'the claimant’s allegations of direct discrimination because of gender reassignment ... are well-founded' and proceeded to award aggravated damages. 

Where do we go from here? What about the rights of women employees at Jaguar Land Rover? Do they not matter? The direction of travel is the elimination of women's single sex spaces. I do not think this is fair or reasonable and it won't make for a better world. Men and women have always sought bodily privacy from one another. To undermine this is transgressive and corrodes our basic humanity and dignity. On top of this is the issue of safety. A woman feels fear if she finds herself alone in a too-private space with a man. This is instinctual. The usefulness of this instinct is self-evident. No-one who cares about the safety of women should seek to over-ride this instinct. And then of course there is rare, but devastating, male violence. So women have every right to continue to fight for their single sex spaces. Men should want them too, for their own dignity, privacy and camaraderie, and for the safety of their friends and families, wives and daughters.

As a Conservative, I believe in being engaged in our democracy - and solution-focused. But it is not for any one of us to presume we have the perfect solution - or the right to demand that our preference is implemented. We are all but one voice amongst many and must work out how to live together. But here is my two-pence worth. I think women's right to single sex spaces should be absolute. There should be no right for men to enter these spaces no matter their gender identity. I think therefore that large workplaces and public spaces should provide some gender-neutral toilet facilities. I do not think these should be existing accessible facilities. But for smaller workplaces, cafes, public spaces we all need to be more flexible and tolerant. If there is a single toilet so be it. If this is a single small bank of toilets which is gender neutral so be it, but this must be designed with safety in mind. A toilet designation can also be changed. If there is no-one in a workplace currently requiring a gender neutral, or an accessible toilet, its designation can be changed for current circumstances. All this said, I am not a toilet or building regulations expert. 

What I am clear about is that we must be able to discuss issues of sex and gender openly and tolerantly. We are free and we are able to explore our identities as we please. But this does not create a reason for women to give up their single sex spaces. We are sexed - and sex matters. And we can provide gender neutral spaces and gender neutral opportunities for those who seek them, and who will feel more comfortable in them. These are my views. However, the important thing is for you to tell the Government yours. You can do so using the email address at the bottom of this page.  Note that the consultation closes on 29 January. Get typing!