Sir Keir Starmer has agreed with Sir Tony Blair that a woman has a vagina and a man has a penis.
It marks a hardening of the Labour leader’s stance on biological sex, having previously said that “99.9% of women” do not have a penis.
Sir Keir on Tuesday backed the former prime minister’s recent comments on the definition of a woman.
Sir Tony had told Holyrood magazine: “I don’t know how politics got itself into this muddle.
“What is a woman? Well, it’s not a very hard thing for me to answer really.
“I’m definitely of the school that says, biologically, a woman is with a vagina and a man is with a penis. I think we can say that quite clearly.”
Sir Keir has repeatedly faced questions about his views on transgender issues and has faced criticism for some of his previous remarks on the topic.
On a General Election campaign visit to Basingstoke, he told reporters: “Yes, Tony is right about that, he put it very well.
“I saw it reported, I’m not quite sure when he said it, but I agree with him on that.”
Last year, Sir Keir said that “99.9% of women” do not have a penis and in 2021 said it was “not right” for Labour MP Rosie Duffield to state that “only women have a cervix”.
But he has since said about Ms Duffield’s statement that “biologically, she of course is right about that”.
Ms Duffield, who has been the target of abuse over her defence of women’s rights and female-only spaces, on Tuesday described as “really disappointing” a suggestion by a Labour peer that she was scared or lazy after she cancelled local hustings over safety concerns.
Lord Cashman, a former EastEnders star and Labour MEP, called her “frit or lazy” after she said her attendance was “impossible” because the “actions of a few fixated individuals” had affected her “sense of security and wellbeing”.
The peer has had the Labour whip suspended over the comments, which Sir Keir criticised as “particularly inappropriate”.
Ms Duffield, who is standing for re-election in Canterbury, told Times Radio: “It’s really disappointing…
“He’s absolutely entitled to his views. I just think it was unfortunate that he made it so personal, considering he doesn’t know me.”
Lord Cashman apologised for his remarks following a backlash.