Ex-Eastenders actor turned Labour lord Michael Cashman makes grovelling apology to Rosie Duffield for branding gender-critical candidate 'frit or lazy' after she pulls out of election events over harassment fears

A former Eastenders star turned Labour politician was forced to apologise today for a stinging  attack on one of the party's gender critical MPs.

Michael Cashman accused Rosie Duffield of being 'frit or lazy' in an online attack after she revealed she would not attend local hustings due to 'constant trolling'.

Ms Duffield revealed on Friday she made an 'extremely difficult decision' because the 'actions of a few fixated individuals' have made her attendance 'impossible'.

The 52-year-old, who is standing in Canterbury, is a defender of women's rights and female-only spaces who revealed this week that she has spent £2,000 on bodyguards while campaigning. 

Lord Cashman, a prominent LGBT activist who played Colin Russell in Eastenders between 1986 and 1989, deleted his tweet this morning.

He added: 'I apologise unreservedly for a post that I put out regarding the Labour candidate for Canterbury. I fully understand any complaints that will be sent to the Labour Party.'

But Ms Duffield hit back, saying: 'This will be the first General Election where I haven't attended every single hustings. But as someone who has never been an MP, it looks as though Lord Cashman is completely unaware that very many MPs/candidates choose never to attend these events at all.'

Michael Cashman accused Rosie Duffield of being 'frit or lazy' in an online attack after she revealed she would not attend local hustings due to 'constant trolling'.

Lord Cashman, a prominent LGBT activist who played Colin Russell in Eastenders between 1986 and 1989, deleted his tweet this morning and apologised.

But Ms Duffield hit back, saying: 'This will be the first General Election where I haven't attended every single hustings. But as someone who has never been an MP, it looks as though Lord Cashman is completely unaware that very many MPs/candidates choose never to attend these events at all.'

Shadow health secretary Mr Streeting told Times Radio on Sunday: 'I strongly disagree with Michael.

'That is extremely unfair and I was very concerned Rosie's not able to participate in hustings and is having to change the way she behaves because of abuse.

'That is wholly intolerable and unacceptable, as is the abuse Nigel Farage has had.

'I count Michael and Rosie as friends and this is exactly the kind of division I've been working really hard to try and work through and heal.'

Ms Duffield, who believes that self-identification threatens women's rights to female-only spaces, previously claimed that she has been given the cold shoulder by Labour leadership over her views on trans issues.

Last month, she complained that Sir Keir Starmer offered her 'no apology' when the two finally spoke after she told a whip she had not been talked to in two and a half years.

In a statement on X on Friday, she said: 'The constant trolling, spite and misrepresentation from certain people, having built up over a number of years and being pursued with a new vigour during this election, is now affecting my sense of security and wellbeing.

'The result is now that I feel unable to be focused on giving a clear presentation of the Labour Party's manifesto commitments.'

A Labour Party spokesperson described the right to campaign as a 'vital' aspect of British democracy.

'It is vital to our democracy that prospective parliamentary candidates are able to campaign freely,' the spokesperson said.

'We completely condemn any intimidation tactics towards candidates of any party.'

Sir Keir previously criticised the would-be MP's claim that 'only women have a cervix', but later told ITV's Good Morning Britain that 'biologically, she of course is right about that' and called for an end to 'toxic' debates on gender.

The remarks drew the ire of Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who accused him of having a 'brass neck'.

Earlier this month an internet troll who posted 'chilling' online messages threatening to kill Rowling and Ms Duffield was spared jail.

Glenn Mullen, 31, of Clyde Road, Manchester, uploaded audio clips in Gaelic threatening to kill Ms Rowling 'with a big hammer' and said he was 'going to see Rosie Duffield at the bar with a big gun', Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.