the times | Saturday April 9 2022 2GM 23
News
Emily Bridges was blocked from competing in a women’s race last weekendCampaigners have won a High Court
challenge against a government plan to
build a national Holocaust memorial
and learning centre next to the Houses
of Parliament.
It was due to open in 2024 in Victoria
Tower gardens, a grade II listed park.
The London Historic Parks and Gar-
dens Trust said the project was the
“right idea, wrong place” in a challenge
opposed by ministers. At a hearing in
February the trust accused the govern-
ment of an “unlawful” approach to the
consideration of other sites and argued
it could affect the park, which is also the
site of the Buxton Memorial commem-
orating the abolition of slavery.
Richard Drabble QC, the trust’s law-
yer, said the plans fell short of legis-
lation dating from 1900 that prohibited
the land being used for “anything other
than a garden open to the public”.
In the High Court yesterday, Mrs
Justice Thornton said the trust’s case
against the planning permission deci-
Holocaust memorial plan
rejected in court challenge
sion had succeeded in relation to the
1900 Act and that “the appropriate
remedy is to quash the decision”.
Lawyers for the government had
argued there was “no error of law” in
the decision-making process.
Westminster city council refused to
grant planning permission in Novem-
ber 2019 but it was granted in July by
Chris Pincher, planning minister at the
time, after a public inquiry.
Many prominent organisations and
individuals had objected, including
Lord Williams of Oystermouth, the
former Archbishop of Canterbury.
About £75 million of public money
has been put towards the memorial’s
construction costs, with £25 million
pledged from charitable donations.
Helen Monger, director of the
London Historic Parks and Gardens
Trust, said: “The High Court has given
the government a welcome chance to
reflect and reconsider the best site for a
fitting Holocaust memorial which the
UK deserves, without tearing up histor-
ic protections for our parks.”British Cycling has suspended its policy
on transgender cyclists after admitting
that it is “unfair” on all women riders.
The move comes following the con-
troversy over a failed attempt by the
trans cyclist Emily Bridges to enter a
women’s event at the British National
Omnium Championships last week-
end.
The Times revealed last week that
Bridges, 21, was due to compete against
the Olympic champion Dame Laura
Kenny and others in the event only to
be blocked on a technicality while other
riders threatened a boycott.
British Cycling’s policy had allowed
trans women to race in the female cate-
gory if their testosterone levels were re-
duced to less than five nanomoles per
litre (nmol/L) for at least 12 months.
However, that clashed with inter-
national rules set out by the UCI,
cycling’s world governing body, and will
now be reviewed.
A statement from British Cycling
said: “Due to the difference in the poli-
cies held by British Cycling and the UCI
relating to the licensing process, it is
currently possible for trans-female ath-
letes to gain eligibility to race domesti-
cally while their cases remain pending
with the UCI (or indeed in situations
where they are deemed ineligible).
“This in turn allows those riders to
accrue domestic ranking points which
impact selection decisions for National
Championship races, which is not only
unprecedented in our sport, but is also
unfair on all women riders and poses a
challenge to the integrity of racing.”
Sandy Sullivan, Bridges’s mother, re-
sponded on Twitter, saying: “Dumped
by email.”
She added in a reply to a follower:
“We will take action. Appropriate
action.”
Bridges set a national junior men’s
record over 25 miles in 2018 before
beginning hormone therapy last year in
her gender transition.
This week Sara Symington, the head
of British Cycling’s Olympic and Para-
lympic programme who competed at
the 2000 and 2004 Games, was one of
76 women who signed a letter calling
British Cycling suspends trans
policy that is ‘unfair’ to women
for a rule change that would prevent
transgender cyclists competing in
women’s events.
The letter urged the UCI to rescind
its rules for trans women to “guarantee
fairness for female athletes”.
British Cycling said that it remained
committed “to ensuring that transgen-
der and non-binary people are wel-
comed, supported and celebrated in the
cycling community”.
The statement added: “The chal-
lenge is far greater than one event or
one sport, and only by working to-
gether can we hope to find a timely so-
lution, which achieves fairness in a way
that maintains the dignity and respect
of all athletes.”
Campaigners have urged British
sports, including cycling, to distance
themselves from the trans lobby.
British Cycling has a diversity and in-
clusion advisory group which includes
Robbie de Santos, of the LGBTQ+
charity Stonewall, and the trans cyclist
Philippa York.
Fiona McAnena, of Fair Play For
Women, told The Times that sports had
relied too heavily on advice from the
trans lobby. She said: “We’re in this
mess because too many sports have
adopted policies dictated to them by
trans lobby groups who prioritise their
own activist agenda, rather than the
good of sport, and disregarding the im-
pact on women and girls.
“The new Sports Council guidance
makes clear that fairness in female
sport depends on keeping it female on-
ly. We’re seeing many urgently review-
ing their policies now, this time consult-
ing more openly and beyond the trans
bubble.”
Last week a senior British Cycling
figure suggested that failure to select
Bridges in future, if she was able to com-
pete as a woman, could lead to a legal
challenge under the Equality Act.
However, the 2010 legislation actual-
ly includes an exemption for sport. It
means that it is not unlawful to exclude
a transgender athlete from women’s
competition where physical strength,
stamina or physique are important fac-
tors in deciding who wins.
Stonewall said: “Trans people de-
serve the same opportunities as every-
one else to enjoy the benefits of sport,and blanket exclusions on trans people
participating are fundamentally unfair.
“Inclusion policies need to be consid-
ered on a sport-by-sport basis and it’s
vital to avoid using inflammatory rhe-
toric — which often causes trans people
to stop playing the sports they love.
“While elite sport often dominates
these discussions, it only makes up a ti-
ny proportion of all sport played in the
UK.”
A fiasco from which no one emerges
with credit, leading article, page 31Martyn Ziegler Chief Sports Reporter
James Beal Social Affairs Editor
Miranda Bryant