Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole) - Response to Questions - 4th July 2024 Election

Women of Dorset have contacted all those standing in the eight constituencies that cover Dorset, including Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Below is the response from Michael Tomlinson (Conservative) - Mid Dorset and North Poole.

Dear Women of Dorset,

 

Thank you for your email and your questions. I hope that the following answers them all for you:

 

A woman is an adult human female. You cannot “become a woman”. You are born female, with XX chromosomes and grow up to be a woman.

 

I welcome the recent announcement by the Prime Minister that the Conservative Party will introduce primary legislation to clarify that the protected characteristic of sex in the Equality Act means biological sex, in addition to legislating that a person can only have one sex in the eyes of the law in the United Kingdom. This means that organisations like refuges can use the law as it was intended.  I agree that Women should have the right to female-only spaces in both everyday and specialist situations – whether changing rooms or prisons. Sport should be segregated by sex. We all know that male and female bodies have different capabilities – that is why sport has always been segregated by sex, which should continue.

 

The Cass report is a vital part of protecting our children. I am delighted that we have banned the use of puberty blockers in the NHS, and also blocked the loophole of private providers -we introduced regulations which apply to all UK private prescribers, as well as prescribers registered in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland.

 

 Children in school should use changing rooms, play sport, share overnight accommodation and use toilets according to their birth sex. No child should be allowed to change their name at school without explicit permission from parents, and children should not be “socially transitioning” at school. As the Cass report states, this is not a neutral act.  We need to protect our children.

 

Conversion practices are already illegal under existing legislation. I see no need to bring in an additional law which might criminalise parents, teachers and medical professionals who are providing support to young people.

 

I oppose any moves to bring in gender “self-ID”.

 

Official statistics should be clearly related to birth sex. Anything else will cause an inaccurate reflection of reality – whether crime statistics or for healthcare. And healthcare settings should use appropriate and accurate language.  Women give birth and breastfeed, women get cervical cancer, men get prostate cancer. We need to ensure accurate, clear language is used.

 

Thank you again for your questions - please do let me know if I can help you any further.

 

Kind regards

 

Michael

 

Michael Tomlinson

Mid Dorset and North Poole