Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa slams government attacks on trans people: ‘It’s divide and conquer’

Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa has accused the UK government for using trans people as a scapegoat for its “own ineptitude”.

As Ncuti Gatwa steps into the TARDIS for the upcoming new season of Russell T Davies’ Doctor Who, the 31-year-old actor has deemed UK politicians as the real villains and monsters who need stopping.

Speaking to Attitude magazine ahead of the new season of the beloved sci-fi show landing next month, Gatwa shared his distress at watching politicians incite hatred against trans people and other minority groups.

“Everything trickles down from the top, and when you see politicians openly attacking marginalised communities, when you see our politicians openly attacking trans people, it makes it OK for everyone else,” he explained.

“It is scary to see that we’ve got to a point where it is fine to attack vulnerable people because that’s essentially what’s happening.”

Data released last October showed that hate crimes against the trans community in England and Wales had risen by more than 10 per cent compared to the previous year.

In response, the Home Office itself suggested that trans people being “heavily discussed by politicians” may have led to an increase in such offences.

Earlier this year, prime minister Rishi Sunak was widely criticised after making a jibe about trans women during Prime Minister’s Questions while Ester Ghey, the mother of murdered trans teenage Brianna Ghey, was watching on in the chamber.

Sunak has a long history of hostile rhetoric towards trans people, including repeatedly suggesting that misgendering trans people is “common sense”.

In footage shared by PinkNews last year, he was recorded mocking those who believe that trans women are women.

Gatwa continued to vent his fury at the “sick” politicians who use trans people and other minorities as a means of “hiding away” from their “ineptitude”.

“People who are the most vulnerable, the most disenfranchised, most disconnected from everyone else, are being told that they are the threats,” he declared.

“You’re going to put the blame on immigrants, Black and brown people, trans people, queer people, to hide the fact that you are not doing anything for people?

“It’s easier to just create discord amongst people. It’s divide and conquer, isn’t it?”

Politicians across the political divide in the UK have continued to use trans people as a punchbag as the general election nears, with Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting recently explaining that he no longer stands by his statement that “trans women are women”.

The shadow health secretary has also expressed his desire for trans hospital patients to be treated in separate hospital wards in order to “maintain the integrity of single-sex spaces”.

As a party, Labour has also recently backed banning trans women from competing in women’s sports.

Ncuti Gatwa, also known for appearing as Eric Effiong in Sex Education, came out as queer last year. 

In his Attitude interview, he explained that he had to get therapy in order to deal with “internalised homophobia” – an issue he only realised he struggled with after he found fame.

“I always thought that I was the most free-spirited person… No-one could tell me what to do. I do whatever I want,” he explained.

“Until I came into the public eye (and) I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know’. It is an ever-evolving journey… What I can do is try each day to tackle that and become more proud of who I am, fully. But it’s a long old slog.”

Doctor Who returns to BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK on 11 May, and to Disney+ on 10 May for international viewers.

The May/June issue of Attitude magazine is out now.