Badenoch says Labour’s conversion practices bill risks criminalising parents

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has criticised Labour’s draft ban on conversion practices, calling it unworkable and unnecessary. She argues it could deter parents from speaking openly with their children, while the Government says the bill targets coercion and abuse and would not affect ordinary parenting.

A report by Policy Exchange, co-written by former equalities watchdog chair Baroness Falkner, warns that the bill could expose parents to prosecution, including for discouraging a child from transitioning or not using their preferred name or pronouns. It says the draft has no clear abusiveness threshold or reasonableness defence; the Government disputes that it would criminalise regular parenting. Questions have also been raised about committee members who have publicly supported the bill, including its chair and a former minister who helped draft it.