Rishi Sunak provoked outrage by joking about the "definition of a woman" in the Commons as the mother of murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey visited parliament.
The prime minister clashed with Sir Keir Starmer over the continuing trans debate at PMQs as Esther Ghey was due to appear in the public gallery just four days after her 16-year-old daughter's killers were jailed for life.
Mr Sunak accused the opposition leader of being incapable of "defining a woman" and that it was one of a number of issues on which he had performed a U-turn. But his jibe prompted howls of protest from MPs, who accused him of a “cruel" joke, "shameful" behaviour and using minorities as a punchline.
After the heated clashes, Labour called on Mr Sunak to apologise but Downing Street defended the prime minister's conduct, describing it as "legitimate".
Outraged by the remarks, Brianna's father Peter Spooner demanded an apology, saying he was "disgusted" with Mr Sunak, before branding the comments "degrading" and "absolutely dehumanising".
The row deepened further when the business secretary Kemi Badenoch accused Labour of weaponising the issue for their political ends.
The incident is bound to be used by Mr Sunak's critics as further evidence that he is "tin-eared" - an allegation rejected by his allies.
The clash came as Mr Sunak accused the Labour leader of breaking pledges he was elected on, adding that Sir Keir had Uturned on "defining a woman, although, in fairness, that was only 99 per cent of a U-turn".
The tone-deaf remarks were in reference to Sir Keir's previous comments that "99.9 per cent of women do not have penises".
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