According to the Conservative Party, there must come an end to the "confusion" in society regarding a person's gender. The Tories thus want to amend the Equality Act to make the term "sex" refer solely to the gender assigned at birth. They use the term "biological sex," which deliberately differentiates between transgender and cisgender people. As a result, spaces specifically for women would not be accessible to transgender women.

The Conservative Party taps into a familiar theme: portraying trans women as a threat to women's rights. According to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the "confusion" about gender is a "danger to girls and women." These are dog whistles for unfounded claims that trans women exploit their registered gender and pose a threat to cisgender women.

The Liberal Democrats, a smaller liberal party in the UK, accuse the Conservatives of trying to distract voters from much more important issues. They also believe that Sunak and his party are waging a "phony culture war." According to the party, politics should not undermine the "hard-fought protections for trans people and women."

Sunak argues that the proposed changes to the Equality Act actually protect "the privacy and dignity of everyone in society." The law was introduced by the previous Labour government. The Conservatives have been in power for fourteen years now.