Lord Michael Cashman was a Labour peer until he had the whip removed last year (Alamy)

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With Reform having enjoyed significant success in May’s local and mayoral elections and often out-performing both Labour and the Conservatives in the national polls, there are internal disagreements in Labour over how to combat the threat.

The ‘Blue Labour’ caucus of Labour MPs has re-emerged, having originally been founded by Lord Glasman in the wake of Labour’s 2010 general election defeat. Dan Carden, the current chair, previously told PoliticsHome he did not mind the term “socially conservative” to describe the group, adding that he believed “progressive politics” has threatened communities. 

The MPs involved are engaged in “deep thinking” about how to appeal to what they perceive as Labour’s working-class roots, which MP Jonathan Hinder defined as “bold, left-wing economic policies, much lower immigration, a complete rejection of divisive identity politics, and proudly reclaiming our patriotism”.

Cashman, however, was unflinching in his assessment that embracing Blue Labour’s rhetoric would be not only wrong, but deeply counterproductive for the Labour movement.

The Eastenders actor-turned-politician has spent most of his life campaigning for the rights of LGBTQ people: a career trajectory he has labelled as entirely “accidental”. Cashman was elected as a Labour Member of the European Parliament in 1999 and was later granted a Labour life peerage in 2014. He now sits as a non-affiliated peer after losing the party whip last year.

Having entered the world of TV and theatre aged only 11, Cashman – now 74 – told PoliticsHome he was “saved by the arts” as a young gay person in the 1960s. In 1989, his character on Eastenders had the first same-sex mouth-to-mouth kiss in a British soap, and in the same year, he co-founded the LGBTQ rights charity Stonewall alongside fellow actor Ian McKellen and campaigner Lisa Power.

More than a quarter of a century later, he said that progress on LGBT rights has been “incredible” – but was concerned that hard-won change could risk being quickly undone by groups which seek to reverse it.

“Sadly, as Shakespeare rightly said, the evil that men and women do lives on; good is oft interred with their bones,” he said.

But Cashman insisted that “Blue Labour has no influence in the party whatsoever”, batting away suggestions that Keir Starmer’s leadership is being pulled in that direction.

He said that anyone arguing that abolishing diversity, inclusion and equality initiatives would help Labour hold on to Red Wall seats was being “dishonest”.

“The Red Wall seats are interested in whether they can get housing for their kids, decent schools, a GP appointment, is the NHS working, are the streets safe?

“It’s an insult to the electorate to pretend that those communities don’t include single parents, gay people, or ethnic minorities.”

In the 1980s, Cashman had to “fight” with some trade unionists who argued gay rights were not working-class issues. 

“Well, tell that to the son of a working-class docker and a working-class office cleaner,” he said of his own background.

There’s been a collective decision by Labour to turn down the volume

Cashman has had other fights on his hands in recent years. Last year, he had the party whip removed after calling gender-critical Labour candidate Rosie Duffield too “frit or lazy” to attend hustings. While he apologised for the comments, he told PoliticsHome he resigned his Labour membership “on principle” the next day.

Cashman said it was “great” that there was more LGBT representation in the seat of power – including in both Cabinet and Parliament – but insisted the Labour Party needed to be bolder in standing up for LGBTQ rights.

“There’s been a collective decision [by the Labour leadership] to try and turn down the volume now,” he said.

“That’s a sensible approach if you turn down the volume so that you can sit down with others in a quiet room and resolve the problems, because they’re not going away… There is an absence of a voice in government on these issues.”

He was concerned by the lack of a dedicated LGBT+ envoy in Labour almost a year on from the election, a role which he held himself before resigning under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

“I hope there’s a really good reason for that,” he said.

A government spokesperson said: “This government is committed to advancing rights and protections for LGBT+ people, including bringing forward legislation to finally ban conversion practices and strengthening protections against hate crime.”

Despite his criticisms, Cashman is still supportive of Labour. “Keir is a good leader dealing with a very difficult political landscape,” he said.

His clearest point of difference with the government is his stance on transgender rights, after the government welcomed the Supreme Court judgement which clarified that ‘man’ and ‘woman’ refer to biological sex at birth according to the Equality Act 2010.

“I’m not a lawyer, but the eminent lawyers that I spoke to have said it creates confusion,” Cashman said.

He pointed to the tangled policy environment around the relevant legislation and the role of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in defining gender and sex.

“The Labour government has got a huge landscape ahead of it. It’s got to address the Supreme Court judgment, which has been widely misinterpreted in relation to biological sex. It has to address the Equality Act, to make sure it’s commensurate with the Gender Recognition Act. 

“It has to dispel the narrative that people, particularly women, have everything to fear from trans women. This narrative has been based not on evidence, but on spin.”

In the House of Lords, Cashman has repeatedly called for the data and evidence to support that transgender women are a significant threat to women.

“The sad thing is, it has become so visceral and so aggressive that many of the trans voices are missing from this debate,” he said. “There’s not a single trans person in Parliament now.”

I don’t think banning political parties from Pride marches is the right move, but I absolutely understand it

However, he described how he often has conversations with colleagues in Parliament in an attempt to remind them of the real people behind the trans debate. 

“I go back to the inhumanity of it, I go back to the blatant misrepresentation of people’s lives,” Cashman said.

“I spoke to someone in Parliament about his trans daughter, and he said to me, they talk about going into women’s toilets, but I remember when she was transitioning and she was beaten up in a men’s toilet.

“I’ve said to politicians in this debate, imagine you are that trans woman, imagine the hate that is regurgitated in the newspapers and in the media and from politicians, and that you’re walking down the street.”

While he opposes gender-critical figures such as Duffield, Cashman clarified that it was important to listen and engage with fears expressed by all groups, and was critical of activists from both sides of the debate for failing to do this effectively.

“I think some activists may not be addressing this properly,” he said.

“If somebody has a fear, let’s deal with it. Let’s do all we can to remove that fear, but we’ll never get there by isolating one another, by saying ‘I’m right and you’re wrong’.”

This year, multiple prominent Pride marches – including London, Brighton, Manchester, and many more – have banned political parties from getting involved in their events.

“I don’t think it’s the right move, but I absolutely understand it,” Cashman said.

“Not only LGBT+ people, but a lot of minorities feel sadly let down by all the political parties, the horse trading, the engagement in culture wars… We feel we were used as bait, as a diversion away from the key issues about what is happening in our world.”

Keir is a good leader dealing with a very difficult political landscape

In his view, one such issue is the pervasive global influence of Donald Trump and far-right actors in the US and other countries around the world.

“I’ve said it numerous times in the House of Lords… There is evidence that money has poured in from the right wing in America, from the evangelical right and from certain charities based here, using their money and using their religious and political beliefs to impose on others.”

But as the world marks Pride this June, Cashman retains a firm belief that not all is lost.

“Pride Month is really a time for coming out as an ally,” he said.

“A time to remember, and a time to celebrate that we stand on the shoulders of ordinary women and men who had the courage to speak out.”

Having quit social media himself after a torrent of online abuse, Cashman offered some words of advice for young LGBT activists and politicians who might follow in his footsteps: “Be yourself. Be authentic… The world’s a good place. It’s positive.

“We’ve got to turn away from the negative, and we’ve got to get out and do more positive, because it’s the only way forward – and I’m a great optimist.”