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The Office of National Statistics is not fit for purpose. Senior leaders must go.

They must be held to account - get a grip of your organisation and defend science, truth, data integrity - or go.

Caroline ffiske was a Conservative Councillor for eight years. Published on 15 February 2021.


A couple of weeks ago there was good news for those who care about the grounding of our society in reality. The Times reported that in the forthcoming 2021 Census, the question which asks people for their sex would require people to answer with their sex. Like that should be a surprise. The Office of National Statistics would allow a small exception for the tiny number of people who have gone through the legal process of obtaining a 'gender recognition certificate' - about 5000 people in the UK. 

This moderate good sense was a surprise coming from the ONS because it is so deeply mired in gender ideology.  And, indeed, it turned out to be too good to be true. The ONS has now officially confirmed that the 2021 Census will allow a form of sex 'self ID' (more details below) and it has produced a document explaining this decision. My conclusion upon reading this document is that the senior team at the ONS is not fit for purpose and needs to go. They are participating in the entrenchment across our society of an ideology that undermines science and truth; free speech and democracy. An ideology that threatens women's language, safety, and rights; and endangers vulnerable children. If the leadership of the ONS won't stand up for accurate statistics, data integrity, and science, they need to be replaced by people who will.

Let's explore the woeful situation. The final decision, on the sex question, for the 2021 Census, is that people will be allowed to reference either their biological sex or 'legal documents such as a birth certificate, gender recognition certificate, or passport'. Let's look at how this decision was reached and what it says about the state of the ONS and our wider democracy.


In the ONS 'methodology' document explaining the decision, the drift into ideology is apparent from the start. The focus is not on science but on avoiding offence. There are some definitions, including this for the 'trans' population: 'where the gender they identify with is different to their sex registered at birth'. However 'ONS is aware that not all members of these populations identify with this terminology'. It's all there, already, in that last sentence: the fear of causing offence, the 'sort-of' apology over terminology, the prioritising of 'identity'.

But it gets worse. Across the increasingly irrational debate about sex and gender, a core of sanity has been clung to: that of a difference between sex and 'gender'. If you want to promote gender ideology, but recognise that you can't get around the fact that sex is binary and immutable, you state a preference 'gender': a 'true self' on the inside. Follow the debate; you'll see the distinction everywhere. The ONS has abandoned the distinction. The ONS says 'Sex can be defined in different ways'. 'These are sex as: registered at birth, recorded on birth certificate, recorded on legal/official documents, living / presenting, and self-identified'. Staggering. Gender ideologues do not go this far... 


Women have become 'traditional women'. The ONS conducted 'in-depth interviews with trans people, traditional women’s groups and the general population...' The ONS normalises the term 'cisgender' - like we want people to explore body disassociation. In America you can buy cross-sex hormones online; via a bottle, your dreams will come true. 


How did the ONS finally decide which of the sex options to run with? Science and truth did not even get a look in... 'We evaluate different concepts of sex in relation to impact on overall census response, sex question response, and individuals right to privacy'. It seems that the goal of the Census has become to get more people to fill in the Census, while not offending them.


In a nutshell, the ONS decided to abandon science, promote ideology, mainstream body disassociation, because it thought more people would fill in the Census. Final conclusion: 'The least impact is anticipated if sex as living / presenting is collected. However, the adjacent concept of sex recorded on legal/official documents is also anticipated to have low impact.' 


Now, let's go back to the actual guidance: the ONS has decided that you may answer the sex question by providing the sex used on your legal documents, such as 'your passport'. How many people in this country know that you can change the sex marker on your passport without requiring a gender recognition certificate? You just provide 'a new birth or adoption certificate showing your acquired gender' or 'a letter from your doctor or medical consultant confirming your change of gender is likely to be permanent'.  What would a doctor base such a letter on? More importantly, when did the Home Office make this change? Who decided that we should be allowed to state something on our passports which isn't true? When was the public consultation? Democracy is being undermined.


Notice the ratchet effect? Someone persuaded the Home Office to allow this. Passports are just travel documents after all, flashed at the airport. So, come on ONS, if the Home Office allows self-ID, get with the beat! James Kirkup wrote in The Spectator about a document that reveals the 'remarkable tactics of the trans lobbyists'.   'One of the most mystifying aspects is the speed and success of a small number of small organisations in achieving major influence over public bodies, politicians and officials. How has a certain idea taken hold in so many places so swiftly?' The ratchet effect is surely part of the process. Kirkup quotes another recommended tactic: 'Avoid excessive press coverage and exposure.' Exposure? That means public scrutiny, democracy. Shoved aside. 


In fact, even while I have been writing this article, it has been pointed out that someone has already pushed the ONS decision aside. Is the senior team at the ONS even aware that someone has done this? They have produced and published a brochure that has by-passed the corporate decision and put full self-identification back on the table.   Has someone gone rogue? This is not an organisation which seems in control.


None of this is acceptable. Scientists and statisticians have been doing everything in their power, practically begging the Office of National Statistics to see sense.  But to no avail. Ideology closes minds and shuts down debate. 


Our individual involvement in our democracy has never mattered more. We need to tell our government to act. The senior leadership team at the Office of National Statistics seems to be hopelessly out of their depth; not in control of their own institution. They must be held to account - get a grip of your organisation and defend science, truth, data integrity - or go.

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Almost a year ago I made the difficult decision to retire after the next general election. That election came a little earlier than expected but I made a promise to my family, so I am standing down from both Conservatives for Women and my parliamentary work. I know I am leaving our task in excellent hands; my fellow directors at Conservatives for Women will continue to ensure we solidify the gains we have made within our party, and my dear friends and colleagues in many other groups will hold the new government's feet to the fire. Some of those groups did not even exist three years ago; our movement to restore sanity, safeguarding, and protect our sex-based rights goes from strength to strength. I will be working in parliament until the end of July. I will continue to support our fight in any way I can, and will always be available if I can be of help. I am stepping back, but not completely stepping away. It has been an absolute honour to share this battle with you all. For the foreseeable future though, you will find me listening to Test Match Special in my shed :-) Karen Varley, 15 July 2024

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Five years ago Conservatives for Women was born. We were a group of women shocked by how a marginal, unscientific, and harmful idea was taking centre stage in our shared public life. We knew, like everyone else, that a vanishingly small number of men and women seek to present as the opposite sex in their public and private lives and deserve to be treated civilly. But we did not believe that school children should be taught that ‘everyone has a gender identity’. We knew this involved the State lying to our children. We did not believe that vulnerable children should be supported by the NHS to take experimental drug treatments to suppress their puberty and then move on to cross sex hormones. We instinctively knew this was the State harming our children. We also knew that women had a right to single sex spaces, services, sports, and wider opportunities. And we knew that we had a right to talk about this; yet doing so, five years ago, appeared genuinely frightening. Women were losing their jobs. So a small bunch of Conservative women got together. For several years we worked incredibly closely even though we had never met! Because our goal was clear. We knew that what was going on had to be addressed at a policy level; at a parliamentary level. We needed the Conservative Party to become gender critical. While we worked cooperatively, Karen Varley became our group leader. I expect she had little idea, five years ago, that she would soon be working 70 hour weeks, engaging directly with Ministers, MPs and Peers, tackling serious policy issues in real time. Conservatives for Women, working alongside all the other gender critical groups and grassroots individuals, turned the tide on gender ideology in the UK. Together we created Terf Island. We know that our work is very far from over. But now Karen is retiring and we would like to thank her for a truly immense contribution. She’s played her part in a historic movement. We look forward to someone, someday, writing up this period in full. They will need to talk to Karen. And now our work will continue. Here’s to Karen Varley, grassroots women, and Terf Island! Caroline ffiske, 15 July 2024

Election Special Newsletter

12 Jun, 2024
We hope this newsletter finds you well and gearing up for an election battle that’s only just begun, and with the reminder that, however dire the polls, Teresa May had a 20 point lead over Jeremy Corbyn in 2017… and then she published the Conservative manifesto and enraged the public. Her lead plummeted and the Conservative’s majority shrank enough that she had to make a deal with the DUP to command a majority to govern. Labour should be publishing its manifesto tomorrow and there is every chance it contains something that will enrage the public at large. Even if that doesn’t transpire, there is still everything to play for, and to that end, our candidates need your help. We already know the Conservatives have pledged in its manifesto to make the Equality Act clear , to clarify that sex means, and has always meant, biological sex, and not something that can be modified by a piece of paper. This, along with other manifesto commitments, is a measure that will do a great deal to help preserve single sex spaces, and protect the safety and dignity of women and girls. We now need to get out there and make it clear that our candidates not only know what a woman actually is, but will always put the safety, privacy and dignity of women and girls first. If you haven’t read it, the full manifesto can be found here . We highlighted some of the key statements in our X thread here . One of the first candidates to give a clear and well informed response to questions on women’s rights and child safeguarding was Michael Tomlinson , Conservative candidate for Mid Dorset and North Poole. Let us know if your candidate says something useful! Below, we have listed every Conservative candidate who is known to be supportive of our aims. Every one of these candidates needs support, whether it’s through encouraging messages via social media or by offering assistance with canvasing – any and all help, however seemingly small, is desperately needed. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and we are sure there may be more but we wanted to get this out to you quickly. If you see them around and you intend to vote for them, tell them WHY they have your vote. If the opposition asks why you won’t vote for them, tell them too! Women's rights and child safeguarding matter. If you would like to get directly involved with any of the campaigns for the PPCs listed, you should find contact details on their websites; if nobody gets back to you quickly then let us know via a DM on X or email us at info@conservativesforwomen.org as we have direct contact with many of the campaign coordinators. If none of these MPs are local to you, there are still things you can do that help: follow them and like their pages/posts on social media for example. Many have a presence on X, Facebook, and Instagram. You could consider doing some telephone canvassing - just half an hour a day could make a difference to any one of them. Contact them directly - or volunteer via the Conservatives website. Or do call one of our directors Caroline Ffiske on 07712 675 305 if you have not done this before and would like a few tips! Let’s give this one last push before we all mark our Xs on the ballot papers. First of all, the women:

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