Road to Nowhere: traffic update (3)

With the revised Equality & Human Rights Commision (EHRC) Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations finally coming into force tomorrow, it’s time for another traffic update from the Road to Nowhere.

As noted in previous traffic updates, following the Supreme Court’s landmark April 2025 ruling in the case of For Women Scotland, four transactivist pressure groups – the Good Law Project, TransLucent, Liberty and the Trans Legal Clinic – jumped into their clown cars to race down the road to Nowhere, where they hoped to undo the Supreme Court ruling by scuppering the EHRC’s consultation on associated further revisions to the then draft Code of Practice, and by otherwise making a legal nuisance of themselves.

However, despite having since crowdfunded a combined total of more than £892,600 from the ‘trans community’ and its allies to fund their thrilling road trips to Nowhere, none of them have got very far. And, from tomorrow, the revised Code of Practice is statutory guidance. So, game over.

Except that … having failed to scupper the EHRC’s consultation on and delivery of a revised Code of Practice, at least some of the transactivist pressure groups now seem set on trying to bring a legal challenge to the statutory guidance. And first out of the blocks were TransLucent, who have already crowdfunded almost £39,000 in support of their nascent attempt to seek a judicial review in the High Court.

TransLucent’s solicitors, the law firm Russell-Cooke, sent a letter before action to both the EHRC and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson on 3 July. However, at the time of writing TransLucent have not yet published either that letter or any response, so it is questionable whether the more than 700 donors to the crowdfunder have been provided with the material information they would have needed to make an informed decision about whether or not to donate (and, if so, how much).

Meanwhile, since 14 July, when Bridget Phillipson signed the commencement order that brings the revised Code of Practice into force as statutory guidance tomorrow, the Good Law Project have been able to sit back and enjoy that clear setback for ‘trans rights’ generating a new wave of more than 1,000 donations, totalling some £26,700, to their crowdfunder in support of their attempt to appeal the legal kicking they were given by the High Court in February. For the GLP, it seems, every setback has a silver lining.

Indeed, the twin setbacks to the stated legal objectives of the GLP’s original, crowdfunded High Court challenge to the EHRC’s consultation process and Interim Update – the first on 21 May, when Phillipson finally laid the revised Code of Practice in Parliament, and the second on 14 July, when she signed the commencement order – have boosted their appeal crowdfunder from a relatively modest £55,878 on 21 May, to £105,778. Ker-ching!

Anatomy of a GLP crowdfunder: How two significant setbacks, on 21 May and 14 July, to the stated legal objectives of the original ‘EHRC Interim Update’ crowdfunder boosted the appeal crowdfunder from £55,878 on 21 May, to £105,778 today

Anyway, if you are a midwit looking for an easy way to dispose of your spare cash, stand by for the next traffic update from the Road to Nowhere. Because, these days, crowdfunders in support of transgenderism-related lawfare are like the proverbial buses, and there will most likely be another two or three along in a minute.

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About wonkypolicywonk

Wonkypolicywonk is a recovering policy minion, assigned wonky at birth.
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