Parents should be worried about Labour’s trans plans

Keir Starmer’s new Office for Equality and Opportunity – launched earlier this month – purports to ensure that ‘equality is at the heart of every mission’. The terrifying reality might be something rather different. One key immediate priority is a ‘full, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices’. The government has said, ‘Conversion practices are abuse. They have no place in society and must be stopped.’

But here’s something: they have already been stopped. Abusive practices are illegal, and there is scant evidence of them happening anywhere in the UK. Stories of quacks delivering electric shocks in a futile attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation belong in history, or in other parts of the world. Even if this kind of abuse is happening in the UK, it should be reported to the police who can already deal with those responsible under existing law.