Brianna Ghey’s father demands apology from Prime Minister over trans ‘joke’
"I personally feel shocked by his comments and feel he should apologise for his remarks," said Peter Spooner
The father of the murdered teen, Brianna Ghey, has called for the Prime Minster to apologise after making an offensive comment in the House of Commons.
On Wednesday (7 February) Rishi Sunak ridiculed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over a series of u-turns including on “defining a woman.” Sunak then added an extra jab at Starmer saying, “that was only 99% of a U-turn,” in reference to Starmer’s comments from last year that 99.9% of women “haven’t got a penis.”
The Prime Minister’s attempts at humour have drawn criticism from across the board, including from his own MPs, with Suank being branded as “callous” among other things. What appalled many was that Brianna’s mother, Esther Ghey, was in Parliament on Wednesday.
“They are absolutely dehumanising” – Peter Spooner, Brianna Ghey’s father
Adding his voice to those calling for Sunak to apologise was Brianna’s father, Peter Spooner. Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday Spooner said the Prime Minister’s comments were “degrading.”
Spooner said: “As the prime minister for our country to come out with degrading comments like he did, regardless of them being in relation to discussions in Parliament, they are absolutely dehumanising. Identities of people should not be used in that manner, and I personally feel shocked by his comments and feel he should apologise for his remarks.”
The LGBTQ+ charity, Stonewall, is also among those to have called out the Prime Minister for his choice of words. They said in a statement: “For the Prime Minister to use trans people as a punchline, in front of the grieving mother of a murdered trans child, was cheap, callous and crass. The disrespect and dehumanisation of trans people that we see played out daily in the media and in our political discourse has real life consequences and it has to stop.”
Amnesty International UK added: “The Prime Minister’s comments on trans people were sickening and he should quickly – and unreservedly – apologise.”
On Thursday, Sunak declined to apologise and defended himself over his “legitimate” comments.
“I want to work towards breaking down barriers within society as a whole” – Esther Ghey, Brianna Ghey’s mother
Sunak’s jab came days after two teenagers – Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe – were sentenced over the murder of Brianna. Both were given life sentences with Jenkinson getting a minimum of 22 years and Ratcliffe a minimum of 20 years.
Brianna Ghey was stabbed 28 times during a “frenzied” attack in Warrington’s Culcheth Linear Park on 11 February, 2023. After the sentencing last week, Jenkinson’s family offered their apologies and later Brianna’s mother Esther, said she would meet Jenkinson’s mum “If she ever wants to speak to me.”
Following Brianna’s death, Esther set up the Peace & Mind UK campaign to improve mental health wellbeing in schools. After raising more than £60,000 to date towards that goal, an event is being held in Manchester on Sunday 18 February to raise more money.
“I want to work towards breaking down barriers within society as a whole whatever people are experiencing are going through,” Esther has said.