Lib Dems told to pay £14,000 to ex-candidate

The Liberal Democrats have been ordered to pay £14,000 to a former parliamentary candidate who says she was driven out of the party and barred from standing as an MP over her gender-critical views.

Natalie Bird was removed as a prospective parliamentary candidate for Wakefield after she wore a top bearing the slogan "Woman: Adult Human Female" to a party meeting.

Ms Bird, from Stockport, said she was "treated like a wicked witch and felt targeted" in a campaign of discrimination, Central London County Court heard on Wednesday.

She had asked for an award of £90,000 for injury to feelings for breach of her membership contract and rights under the Equality Act.

Ms Bird sued for discrimination, and representatives of the Lib Dem membership had previously conceded the claim.

Ms Bird had been critical of the party's policies online but Judge Jane Evans-Gordon said "there was no evidence Ms Bird's views ever crossed the line and became transphobic or abusive".

The court heard: "Ms Bird holds the belief that sex and gender are separate. Her views are known as gender critical.

"She alleges that as a result she has suffered discrimination by the Liberal Democrats, which has caused great hurt to her feelings."

The judge said the level of compensation reflected the fact the discrimination was not "a one-off or an isolated incident and it is likely to have had a significant impact on Ms Bird".

She noted Ms Bird was not prevented from returning to work, and so the sum made allowances for the unfair process involved in her removal but not for her lack of progress in her political career.

The judge said any higher compensation could put her in line with someone who had suffered scarring or permanent loss of vision and "it seems to me that the loss of feeling cannot be compared to the loss of an eye".

The judge added: "Political parties are entitled to choose candidates who support party policies and remove those who disagree with the policies.

"They cannot be expected to choose those who publicly disagree and undermine party policy."

Ms Bird said she was called "an Illiberal Terf", suspended from the Lib Dems and banned from standing as an MP for a decade.

Terf stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

Ms Bird wore the T-shirt bearing the words "Woman: Adult Human Female" in the days after she was nominated as the Lib Dem candidate for Wakefield in December 2018.

Soon afterwards she received a letter suspending her membership and notifying her there would be a formal disciplinary hearing against her for breaching the party's code of conduct.

Ms Bird did not see the suspension letter as she was on her way to a meeting of the Wakefield District Liberal Democrat Club where she was turned away and told to leave.

She described this as "an extremely humiliating, embarrassing and upsetting experience".

An offer of £40,000 was made to settle the case but it was "never properly engaged with" by Ms Bird, the court heard. She will receive 90% of her costs which have yet to be set.

Speaking after the ruling, a Lib Dem spokesman said: "This case relates to events that took place in 2019 under a different complaints system that has since been changed."

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