The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World

by Andrew Doyle

The prioritisation of gender over sex has become established practice in many of our major public institutions. In March 2022, Baroness Emma Nicholson spoke in the House of Lords about a woman who had allegedly been raped on a hospital ward. Apparently, when police contacted the hospital they were told that there were no men on the single-sex ward, and ‘therefore the rape could not have happened’. This form of ‘gaslighting’ is part of a policy known as ‘Annex B’. The NHS accommodates patients by gender identity, not biological sex, and if a female patient complains that there is a man on her ward, she is to be told that this is not true; there are no men present. As the official NHS guidelines make clear: ‘Views of family members may not accord with the trans person’s wishes, in which case, the trans person’s view takes priority’. One cannot help but be reminded of Orwell’s words in Nineteen Eighty-Four: ‘The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command’