Redditch MP had shared a "deeply offensive” tweet against Green party political opponent
Tory MP Rachel Maclean has had a ‘non-crime hate incident’ reported against her by the police for a cruel post she shared which called a transwomen and political rival a “man who wears a wig”.
The comments came under heavy criticism and were blasted as ‘transphobic’ and ‘deeply offensive’, stirring up harmful rhetoric against trans people.
Maclean had shared a post on X that mis-gendered and described one of her general election rivals, Green party political opponent Melissa Poulton, as “a man who wears a wig and calls himself a ‘proud lesbian’”.
Mrs Maclean wrote when sharing the post: “While the Greens don’t know what a woman is, my Worcestershire neighbours the people of Bromsgrove certainly do.”
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said the comment was: “a deeply offensive intervention from an elected MP, who should be representing everybody in the community, not making these nasty, snide and divisive comments.”
Poulton described the words as “dog-whistling” and said “without a shadow of a doubt, it is a transphobic comment.”
The Redditch MP, who later removed the post, has said she will challenge the police decision.
Maclean wrote on X: “1/ local police are exceptionally good. However they have recorded a “non crime hate incident” which I am challenging. As a Home Office minister I was involved in changing rules. Are the police finally standing up for gender-critical feminists?
“2/ to bring in common sense and proportionality. Originally NCHIs were introduced in wake of Stephen Lawrence case and were used as intelligence gathering tools. It seems wrong and ridiculous to use the same tool to record that a woman said a man cannot be a woman or a lesbian.”
It comes as the government has today published new proposed guidance on how schools and colleges should approach children questioning their gender, which has faced a huge backlash from politicians and campaigns.
Labour MP Kate Osborne blasting it “cruel and unworkable” and went on to describe the guidance as “trans hate and an escalation of the Government’s war on woke”, as trans people continue to be used in the Tory culture wars ahead of the general election.
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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