Munira Mirza served as Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit under Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 until 2022. In the Spectator's Quite Right podcast, she revealed:
"Unfortunately I had not banked on how much parts of the Conservative party really liked those policies. And really wanted to back them. We had lots of MPs campaigning for self-id... Quite a lot of MPs trotting into my office and saying its very important we do this. It's the most important issue that the Conservative party can deal with."
It's worth dwelling on what self-id actually means. Legally changing gender is already an alarmingly simple process in the UK. There is no legal requirement to have sex-reassignment surgery. Self-id would take this further: any man, regardless of whether they have a full-grown beard, would be able to legally change gender, with no requirements whatsoever. They wouldn't need to prove they have gender dysphoria. They wouldn't need to wear make-up or female clothing or a wig. There are no medical or social prerequisites.