Corbynista MP backs down after attacking ‘transphobic’ Tory

Lloyd Russell-Moyle is no stranger to controversy. The Labour MP previously said sorry to JK Rowling after accusing her of using her own sexual assault as ‘justification’ for her views on trans people. Back when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader, the Brighton MP said those who quit the party were ‘scabs’.

This week, Russell-Moyle has been busy in the Commons blasting a Tory MP. The Corbynista MP lashed out against Miriam Cates after she expressed concern that the Scottish gender bill would make it ‘vastly easier for a predator to get access to children’.

‘The idea of linking trans people with predators is disgusting and you should be ashamed,’ he told Cates, before accusing his fellow MP of delivering what he claimed was ‘one of the worst transphobic dog-whistle speeches I’ve heard in an awful long time’.

Today, Russell-Moyle appears to have conceded he went too far: ‘Our job as MPs is to channel passion and anger into considered debate to win arguments – in this case for the Trans community and to defend devolution.