Keir Starmer: 16-year-olds too young to decide gender change

Sir Keir Starmer has said he has “concerns” over Scotland’s gender recognition law because he considers the age of 16 too young to decide to change gender.

The SNP passed legislation last month that will allow trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate without the need for a medical diagnosis — a process known as “self-identification”.

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill also lowers the minimum age for applicants to 16 and drops the time required for an applicant to live in their acquired gender from two years to three months — six for those aged 16 and 17 — but with a three-month reflection period.

Starmer said he did not think 16 was old enough to make such a decision. The Labour leader