Labour MPs show support for activists promoting 'transgender Cinderella' to primary kids
Labour MPs have shown support for an activist group which promotes ' transgender Cinderella' books to primary school children.
Pop'n'Olly, which visits classrooms to teach gender ideology, welcomed politicians to a Parliamentary drop-in event which it said was sponsored by Nadia Whittome MP.
The gathering included Labour MPs Kim Leadbeater, Paul Davies, Darren Paffey and Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty.
These four MPs posed for social media photos in front of the Pop'n'Olly logo with a sign reading: 'I support LGBT + education'.
Last night, campaigners condemned their support for the group as 'hugely concerning'.
Pop'n'Olly, which describes itself as an 'LGBT+ educational resource', tells children that sex is 'assigned' at birth and gender can be seen as 'a spectrum'.
It has also produced a book aimed at primary schools, 'Jamie - A Transgender Cinderella Story', featuring a girl who gets to dress as a 'boy called Jamie' for a ball and win the heart of a princess.
Pop'n'Olly distributes this and other books to schools, and claims to have donated a total of 12,000 to 4,000 primaries.
After the event, on June 3rd, Mr Davies reposted his photo on his own open Facebook page with the caption: 'Today I showed my support for LGBT+ education.
'I believe that every student deserves to see themselves reflected in what they learn.'
However, many of Pop'n'Olly's teaching materials are highly controversial.
Among them is a video called 'Gender Explained for Kids', which is marketed as 'family friendly'.
It says: 'Most people's gender will be the same as their assigned sex, although this will not be the case for everyone.'
It adds that gender 'can be something that someone discovers about themselves as they grow older'.
And it says: 'Some people find it useful to think of gender as a spectrum'.
The group's training lead, Jack Lynch, who identifies as 'non-binary', wrote last year about speaking to a group of children aged nine to 11 at a primary in Sussex 'about gender identity'.
Lynch said a nine-year-old girl said during the session: 'I feel like you feel. I don't fit into a box that everyone else seems to fit into.
'I don't like doing normal girl things. I like football and wearing boys' clothes.'
In 2021, Pop'n'Olly celebrated on Instagram after being awarded an 'honorary Mermaids' certificate by the now discredited Mermaids organisation.
This month's event was revealed on Facebook where the group tagged in the MPs attending and boasted: 'A MASSIVE thank you to over 20 MPs, ministers and staffers who attended our drop in event in @ukparliament on Tuesday.
'We had so many fantastic conversations, shared valuable information and witnessed such amazing support for LGBT+ inclusive education at primary school!
'We have come away feeling proud, hopefully and renewed in our passion for this incredibly important work.
'A huge thank you to @nadiawhittomemp for sponsoring our event and for her ongoing support for LGBT+ Education.'
The event has sparked concern that some Labour MPs may not be attuned to concerns about teaching transgender concepts to young children.
Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend said: 'Pop'n'Olly is an activist organisation masquerading as an innocent, fun, children's educational resource.
'Their message to little children is that they may have been born 'wrong' and need fixing.
'They introduce doubt into impressionable children's minds – am I a girl or am I a boy?
'No child should be asking this question, as if they have a choice.
'Trans ideology can only cause confusion, doubt and fear for children too young to understand it is not the reality.'
She added the transgender Cinderella story could be seen as 'turning a lesbian into a straight boy in order to win the hand of the princess'.
'It is hugely concerning that so many Labour MPs openly support such regressive, sexist and homophobic views,' she said.
Parent groups have previously warned gender ideology reinforces old-fashioned stereotypes of 'male' and 'female'.
The previous Tory government's guidance for 'gender-questioning children' says schools should not teach 'gender identity' as fact.
However, this has been 'under review' since Labour took power last year.
Pop'n'Olly is a private company which provides LGBT+ teaching resources, books, staff training and direct child-facing sessions to schools.
While the company is not officially sanctioned by the Department for Education (DfE), headteachers are free to invite them or any other education company in to work with their school.
Pop'n'Olly was created by Olly Pike, 39, who says he produces 'inclusive videos and children's books that combat homophobia and transphobia', while 'drawing on his background in theatre'.
A spokesman for Pop'n'Olly said: 'We are incredibly proud of the work we do at Pop'n'Olly which supports schools, parents and carers in teaching about diversity and inclusion.
'Our work is supported by many thousands of teachers, educators, parents and carers, designed and delivered by education experts, in line with all current legislation and informed by research.'
A Government spokesman said: 'Schools have a clear duty to safeguard their pupils – and should make sure children are never taught concepts that they are too young to understand, and never made to feel that not fitting with gender stereotypes means they were born in the wrong body.
'Our review of the Relationship, Sex, and Health Education guidance will put children's safety at its core, making clear that concepts around sex and gender should only be taught in a way that reflects the facts and law on biological sex and gender reassignment.'
The MPs did not respond to attempts to contact them, and Labour declined to comment on their behalf.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
37 minutes ago
- Sky News
Two more people arrested over damage to aircraft at RAF base
Two more people have been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence after two aircraft were vandalised at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said the men, aged 22 and 24 and both from London, were arrested on Saturday afternoon on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. On Thursday, police said a woman, aged 29 of no fixed address, and two men, aged 36 and 24 from London, had been taken into police custody after the incident at RAF Brize Norton on 20 June. A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, they previously said. The group posted a video online claiming it was behind the vandalism at the Oxfordshire airbase last Friday, saying activists had damaged two military planes at the base. Palestine Action - which focuses its campaigns on multinational arms dealers and has previously targeted corporate banks - said two activists "broke into the largest air force base in Britain and used electric scooters to swiftly manoeuvre towards the planes". 5:01 Repurposed fire extinguishers were used to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers, while further damage was made using crowbars. "Red paint, symbolising Palestinian bloodshed was also sprayed across the runway and a Palestine flag was left on the scene," a statement by the group said. Brize Norton is the largest RAF station, with approximately 5,800 service personnel, 300 civilian staff and 1,200 contractors. A security review was launched across the "whole defence estate" following the breach, which was condemned as "absolutely staggering" by Ben Obese-Jecty, a Tory MP and former Army officer. Sir Keir Starmer condemned the "act of vandalism" as "disgraceful", adding: "Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us." Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday that Palestine Action will be proscribed as a terrorist organisation following the breach at RAF Brize Norton. She said a draft proscription order will be laid in parliament next week, and if passed, it will make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action.
The Independent
44 minutes ago
- The Independent
PM ‘incapable of sticking to a decision' after welfare U-turn
The Prime Minister is 'incapable of sticking to a decision' after he made a major U-turn on welfare reforms in the face of a backbench rebellion, Kemi Badenoch will say. The reforms would only have made 'modest reductions to the ballooning welfare bill', but Sir Keir Starmer was 'too weak to hold the line', the Conservative Party leader is expected to say. In a speech to the Local Government Association Annual Conference in Liverpool on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch will criticise Sir Keir for creating a 'punishing welfare trap that shuts people out of going back to work'. 'This week, the Prime Minister backed down on limited reforms that would have made modest reductions to the ballooning welfare bill,' she will say. 'He was too weak to hold the line. 'The result? A punishing welfare trap that shuts people out of going back to work. 'Right now, Labour are making everything worse. And Keir Starmer sums up exactly what's wrong with politics today. 'Now that his backbenchers smell blood, there's almost certainly another climb down on the two-child benefit cap in the offing. 'Labour told us 'the adults were back in charge', but this is actually amateur hour. The Prime Minister is incapable of sticking to a decision. 'If he can't make relatively small savings to a benefits bill that is set to exceed £100 billion by 2030, how can we expect him to meet his promised 5% defence spending, or ever take the tough decisions necessary to bring down the national debt?' On Saturday, the Prime Minister told the Welsh Labour conference the 'broken' welfare system must be fixed 'in a Labour way'. In a speech to the Welsh Labour conference, he said: 'We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won't, but we also can't let it become a snare for those who can and want to work,' the Prime Minister said. 'Everyone agrees that our welfare system is broken: failing people every day, a generation of young people written off for good and the cost spiralling out of control. 'Fixing it is a moral imperative, but we need to do it in a Labour way.'
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Two more people arrested over damage to aircrafts at RAF base
Why you can trust Sky News Two more people have been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence after two aircrafts were vandalised at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said the men, aged 22 and 24 and both from London, were arrested on Saturday afternoon on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. On Thursday, police said a woman, aged 29 of no fixed address, and two men, aged 36 and 24 from London, had been taken into police custody after the incident at RAF Brize Norton on 20 June. A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, they previously said. The group posted a video online claiming it was behind the vandalism at the Oxfordshire airbase last Friday, saying activists had damaged two military planes at the base. Palestine Action - which focuses its campaigns on multinational arms dealers and has previously targeted corporate banks - said two activists "broke into the largest air force base in Britain and used electric scooters to swiftly manoeuvre towards the planes". 5:01 Repurposed fire extinguishers were used to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers, while further damage was made using crowbars. "Red paint, symbolising Palestinian bloodshed was also sprayed across the runway and a Palestine flag was left on the scene," a statement by the group said. Brize Norton is the largest RAF station, with approximately 5,800 service personnel, 300 civilian staff and 1,200 contractors. A security review was launched across the "whole defence estate" following the breach, which was condemned as "absolutely staggering" by Ben Obese-Jecty, a Tory MP and former Army officer. Sir Keir Starmer condemned the "act of vandalism" as "disgraceful", adding: "Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us." Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday that Palestine Action will be proscribed as a terrorist organisation following the breach at RAF Brize Norton. She said a draft proscription order will be laid in parliament next week, and if passed, it will make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action.
