Labour leadership contender: "Violent male offenders who transition should be allowed to serve their sentences in female-only prisons"

The Labour MP for Wigan, Lisa Nandy, has stated that she believes that violent male offenders, including child rapists, should have the right to serve their sentence in female-only prisons if they transition. 

At a campaign rally she was asked her views on whether violent male sexual offenders who transition should be allowed to serve their sentence in a jail assigned to prisoners of their new gender.

The question to Nandy was specifically asked in relation to the case of a man jailed for five counts of child rape, who later transitioned to become a woman.

Nandy, 40, was applauded as she told the audience:  'I believe fundamentally in people's right to self-ID. 

'I believe the Gender Recognition Act strikes the wrong balance in relation to that.

'I think that crimes that are recorded should be recorded as that person wishes, having gone through that process, received support and self-identified.

'I think trans women are women, I think trans men are men, so I think they should be accommodated in a prison of their choosing.'