A Labour MP has been recorded describing critics of trans rights as "swivel-eyed loons", a leaked audio has suggested.
Macclesfield MP Tim Roca made the controversial remarks at an event called Queering Academia, hosted by the University of Westminster earlier this month.
He also suggested the critics are "not very well people" during the university event.
"The best argument against them is a conversation with them, because they look swivel eyed and honestly, they're not very well people, I don't think, the ones that I've met," Roca said during his talk.
The first-time backbencher MP, who won the historically Conservative seat in last year's general election, made the comments whilst discussing approaches to debates on gender issues.
Roca also criticised the Supreme Court's judgment on trans rights in the recording obtained by the Telegraph, calling it "very depressing" and contradicting his own party's official position on the ruling.
Labour had welcomed the court's decision, which ruled that the legal definition of "woman" within the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, as bringing "clarity" to the issue, but the MP openly rejected this stance during his university talk.
The MP went on to suggest that UK debates on gender had "gone down the rabbit hole" in a manner similar to discussions in the United States.
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|Labour MP Tim Roca called the Supreme Court's judgement 'very depressing'
"I think actually the UK has now really gone down the rabbit hole into the way the United States discusses issues of gender, race, poverty, all of that," he told the audience.
During the same event, Roca launched a scathing attack on Parliament itself, labelling it a "toxic cesspit" and making sweeping claims about his fellow MPs' motivations.
The Labour backbencher suggested that other parliamentarians were driven by "fear, envy, greed" rather than public service.
Roca's comments about his parliamentary colleagues add to the controversy surrounding his university appearance, where he also made inflammatory statements about those who disagree with him on trans rights.
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|Roca went on to describe Parliament as a 'toxic cesspit'
Despite his harsh criticism of those who disagree with him on trans rights, Roca urged supporters to adopt a measured approach in debates.
"So if we can bring the debate back into being one based on rationalism and compassion - and actually as we know, the facts - I think that's a much better place for all of us to be," he said.
The MP warned against mirroring the behaviour of opponents, stating: "What we can't be, is we can't look like the alternative version of the transphobes."
He advised the university audience to speak "passionately but sensibly" when engaging with others on gender issues, emphasising the importance of "bringing people around" through reasoned discussion.
GB News has approached Roca for comment.
The release of the recording comes just a day after Sir Keir Starmer and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced plans to overrule "trans activist" Labour MPs and select a gender-critical campaigner to lead Britain's human rights watchdog.
Mary-Ann Stephenson has been named as ministers' pick to head up the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) when its current chairwoman steps down in November.
Stephenson - Starmer's long-held choice for the job - had been subjected to fierce opposition by trans rights campaigners and MPs.
The latter group - led by Women and Equalities Committee leader Sarah Owen - even wrote to the Education Secretary in a bid to stop her appointing Stephenson.
They accused Stephenson of not having a "suitable depth of understanding of enough issues facing groups with other protected characteristics".
Though one gender-critical MP, Rosie Duffield, said: "Worth noting, not every member of the WESC signed this letter - obviously I didn't."