Rishi Sunak refuses to apologise to Brianna’s mum for trans joke in painful new interview: ‘I’ve nothing but heartfelt sympathy – but…’

Rishi Sunak has flatly refused to apologise to Esther Grey, the mother of murdered trans teen Brianna Ghey, after making a joke about trans women in front of her.

The Prime Minister made the jibe yesterday (Monday 7 February 2024) during Prime Minister’s Questions, while Ghey was a guest in Parliament.

The Conservative leader ridiculed Labour leader Keir Starmer for U-turning on “defining a woman,” before adding that it was “only 99% of a U-turn.”

Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe were sentenced to life in prison on 2 February 2024 for murdering Ghey in a hate crime on 11 February 2023.

Sunak’s comments have led to an uproar, and demands for an apology from Brianna’s father Peter Spooner, LGBTQ rights lobbying group Stonewall, and Attitude Editor-in-Chief Cliff Joannou.

“If you look at what I said…” – Rishi Sunak

This morning, the matter of an apology was addressed during a Sky News interview with Sunak.

In a clip of the interview uploaded to YouTube, Sunak says: “I was completely shocked by Brianna’s case. To have your child taken from you in such awful circumstances is almost impossible to come to terms with. And for Brianna’s mum to talk with such empathy and compassion about that, I thought was inspiring and shows the very best of humanity.

“I have nothing but the most heartfelt sympathy for her and her entire family and friends. But to use that tragedy to detract from the very separate and clear point I was making about Keir Starmer’s proven track record of multiple U-turns on major policies because he doesn’t have a plan, is I think both sad and wrong, and demonstrates the worst of politics.”

Sunak is then asked by a Sky News reporter: “The father has demanded an apology from you, so will you honour that?”

To this, the PM hesitates and dithers, before saying: “If you look at what I said, I was very clear, talking about Keir Starmer’s proven track record of U-turns on major policies because he doesn’t have a major plan. A point only proven by today’s reports that the Labour Party and Keir Starmer are apparently planning to reverse on their signature economic green spending policy. That just demonstrates the point I was making. He’s someone who has consistently changed his mind on a whole range of major things. And I think that is an absolutely legitimate thing to point out. It demonstrates that he doesn’t have a plan for the country.”