UK justice secretary plans to bar biological males from women's prisons: 'It's obvious a woman cannot be born with a penis'



U.K. Justice Secretary Dominic Raab plans to prohibit biological males from being housed in women's prisons, following high-profile incidents involving transgender inmates.

According to the U.K. Daily Mail, an inmate with male genitalia, convicted of murder, who identifies as a woman was caught earlier this year having consensual sex with a younger female prisoner. Their sexual escapade was supposedly fueled by alcohol the two had illegally acquired. The incident occurred at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, the largest women's prison in the country.

The incident became public in May, though it is unclear when it actually occurred. The inmate has since been transferred to a transgender housing unit at another facility.

This same biological male inmate also allegedly told one Bronzefield inmate "I'm going to f*** you" and told another "I love p****. Why would I want to be in a man's prison?" Allegations have also swirled that the inmate may have sexually assaulted another inmate, though the Ministry of Justice has no such complaint on file.

Another biological male in a U.K. woman's prison, Karen White, committed sexual assault against two female prisoners four years ago. In all, officials say there have been seven incidents of transgender women attacking female prisoners in England and Wales in recent years.

Raab's office examined these incidents and determined in July that inmates with male genitalia would no longer be housed with biological females. Exceptions to this policy could be made with the authorization of a minister.

"Once confirmed by the new Government in September," a spokesperson for Raab's office said late last week, "[the new policy] would be implemented as soon as possible."

Despite the optimism from the Ministry of Justice, the policy is likely to face serious legal challenges. It will also need to be approved by the new government, which will take office next month.

Still, many believe that, for too long, the rights of transgender inmates have been prioritized over the rights of biological women.

“The safety of female prisoners is being put at risk, and their dignity and privacy undermined, by being incarcerated with biological males, some of whom are known sex offenders,” one report about transgender prisoners in the U.K. reads.

“The Ministry of Justice acknowledges that this is causing high levels of fear and anxiety to women who are often already traumatised by their experiences of sexual assault and domestic abuse, yet the wish of trans-identifying males to be placed in the women’s estate is given priority,” it continues.

Raab himself weighed in on the issue of transgender inmates recently. "It's obvious a woman cannot be born with a penis," Raab insisted back in May.

British foreign minister fires back over accusation that critical gate at Kabul airport was left open for UK personnel



A senior British official denied accusations that a key gate was left open at the Kabul airport prior to the ISIS-K terror attack to allow British personnel to pass through the gate.

What is the background?

Politico reported Monday that top American commanders wanted to close the Abbey Gate — the location of the terror attack — but kept "the gate open longer than they wanted in order to allow their British allies, who had accelerated their withdrawal timeline, to continue evacuating their personnel, based at the nearby Baron Hotel."

The reporting is based on classified notes taken during a meeting hosted by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shortly before the attack. The allegation, as the report explained, is that American officials had a "detailed plan" to shut the Abbey Gate, but kept it open to help British allies.

How did Britain respond?

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab categorically denied the accusation.

"Look, we coordinate very closely with the U.S., in particular around the ISIS-K threat that we anticipated, although tragically were not able to prevent," Raab said on Sky News. "But we, it's certainly right to say that we got our civilian staff out of the processing center by Abbey Gate — but it's just not true to suggest that other than securing our civilians staff inside the airport that we were pushing to leave the gate open."

"In fact, and let me just be clear about this, we were issuing changes of travel advice before the bomb attack took place and saying to people in the crowd, which is what I was particularly concerned that certainly U.K. nationals and anyone else should leave because of the risk," he added.

Dominic Raab says “it’s just not true” to suggest UK pushed to keep a Kabul airport gate open, after reports that t… https://t.co/lqX30Q2YTZ

— Sky News (@SkyNews) 1630392299.0

In fact, Raab explained in a separate interview with BBC News that British operations never necessitated leaving the Abbey Gate open at the Kabul airport.

"We also shifted the civilian team that we had in the Baron Hotel to the airport, because [being] a stone's throw away from where the terrorist attack took place, it clearly wasn't safe, but none of that would have required or necessitated Abbey Gate to be left open," Raab explained.

Anything else?

The Pentagon strongly rebuked Politico for publishing its story, but did not deny the material facts.

"This story is based on the unlawful disclosure of classified information and internal deliberations of a sensitive nature," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement, according to Politico.

"As soon as we became aware of the material divulged to the reporter, we engaged Politico at the highest levels to prevent the publication of information that would put our troops and our operations at the airport at greater risk," he added. "We condemn the unlawful disclosure of classified information and oppose the publication of a story based on it while a dangerous operation is ongoing."

Great Britain Extends Condolences on 'America's Darkest of Days'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has extended Britain's condolences to the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks on "America's darkest of days."