UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has suggested that transgender people should use disabled toilets if they don’t want to use toilets based on their birth gender. This suggestion comes after a Supreme Court ruling that says the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological sex, not gender identity.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Badenoch explained that using existing disabled toilets would be a cheaper option for businesses instead of building new gender-neutral toilets. She pointed out that most businesses already have unisex disabled toilets, which transgender people could use.

Badenoch said the issue is simpler than people think. “If you are providing a single-sex space, it has to be a real single-sex space,” she added. She also said that the confusion wasn’t caused by transgender people but by “predatory men” who took advantage of weak rules to enter women’s toilets.

She mentioned that two years ago, rules were introduced to protect single-sex spaces, although many people didn’t take it seriously at the time.

Meanwhile, senior minister Pat McFadden confirmed that transgender civil servants and public workers will not be allowed to use toilets and changing rooms matching their gender identity. However, he said there would be no strict enforcement — meaning there won’t be “toilet police” checking.

The Supreme Court’s decision also affects schools and sports clubs. Schools must offer single-sex changing rooms for children over the age of eight, but provide other options for transgender students. Also, sports clubs with 25 or more members can limit their membership to biological men or women. For example, a lesbian women’s sports club can choose not to admit transgender women.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is now working on a detailed code of practice based on the ruling, which it plans to submit to the Government by June.