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Labour party bosses urged to withdraw whip from Canterbury and Whitstable MP Rosie Duffield amid 'transphobia' row

Campaigners are calling for a Kent MP to be kicked out of her party after she became embroiled in a second transphobia row in as many months.

Labour’s Rosie Duffield has been criticised by activists after liking a tweet that claimed calls for companies to ditch single-sex spaces - such as toilets - are “all about celebrating cross-dressers in the office”.

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield. Picture: Suzanne Bold/The Labour Party
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield. Picture: Suzanne Bold/The Labour Party

The party has since been urged by members to withdraw the whip from the Canterbury MP – with one group branding it “unacceptable behaviour”.

Withdrawing the whip means effectively expelling an MP from the party, meaning they would have to sit as an independent.

But posting on Twitter, Ms Duffield said: “I haven't ‘learnt to be careful’ yet.

“Don't panic though, the bus to Stepford leaves shortly. That'll teach me.

“[I’m] bound to be fully reprogrammed by the time I return.”

She also altered her Twitter bio so that it said “if you’re policing my ‘likes’ you really need a new hobby”.

The row erupted this weekend after Ms Duffield liked a tweet from women's rights campaigner Maya Forstater.

The tweet linked to an article which says the Law Society's LGBT+ Committee is promoting the idea that firms should abolish single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing facilities.

Ms Forstater tweeted: "This is all about celebrating cross dressers in the office."

The latest controversy comes after a lesbian staffer in Ms Duffield's constituency office quit her job after accusations of transphobia were levelled at the MP in August.

Defending herself on twitter, Ms Duffield, whose constituency also includes Whitstable , said: "I’m a ‘transphobe’ for knowing that only women have a cervix....?!”

She made the comment after followers criticised her for liking a tweet, written by Piers Morgan, that took umbrage with a post reminding “individuals with a cervix” about the importance of smear testing.

Ms Duffield later apologised for causing offence.

In the staffer's resignation letter, which was obtained by PinkNews , she told the MP: “I cannot go out and bat for you having heard you say the things that you have”.

And following the latest controversy, LGBT+ Labour Scotland wrote: “We are calling for Rosie Duffield MP to have the whip withdrawn.

“Despite attempts to reach out and educate, she continues to like transphobic content on Twitter and mock those raising concerns.

“This is unacceptable behaviour from a Labour MP.”

Several student Labour groups and a branch of Momentum also called for party bosses to discipline Ms Duffield.

A spokesperson for the under-fire MP says she will not be making any further comments on this issue.

Read more: All the latest news from Canterbury

Read more: All the latest news from Whitstable

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