If the UK bill to ban ‘conversion therapy’ is passed, parents could face a prison sentence if they are critical of their child who identifies as a cat.
The ‘trans-inclusive’ bill was tabled towards the end of Keir Starmer’s time as Prime Minister and Labour leader. The intention may seem well-meaning: to ban cruel practices such as attempting to convince a person that they do not have the sexual orientation or gender identity with which they identify, writes The Telegraph in an editorial.
In a separate article in the same newspaper, the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Baroness Falkner, describes the legislation as ‘unprecedented and an unjustified intrusion into family life’.
She warns that parents could face up to five years in prison for refusing to use a child’s preferred name, for refusing to fund gender-affirming treatment, or for attempting to prevent a child from undergoing medical procedures that could lead to permanent sterility. This is appalling.
On social media and in schools, children are bombarded with confusing notions about gender, including the idea that there is a potentially unlimited number of genders.”
We recognise this from Norway.
“Lady Falkner points out that the draft bill is so poorly worded that exotic identities such as ‘catgender’ could potentially be granted protection.
Parents will naturally feel a responsibility to help their children navigate this confusion, and are best placed to judge when a child’s statements should be questioned and when they should be affirmed. But in a desperate attempt to appease extreme trans activists, Labour has failed to answer fundamental questions about this legislation.
Norway was, of course, an early adopter of this madness: the law against conversion therapy was passed by the Storting on 12 December 2023 (by 85 votes to 15). But it is perfectly fine for the state to indoctrinate our children from as early as nursery with ideas that could ruin their lives. Even football teams for six-year-old boys want to send the children to Pride parades, something I managed to prevent when our local football club tried to do so.
The British Government is once again attempting to ignore the recommendations of the damning Cass Report on how gender-confused children have been mistreated for years.
As of October 2026, 28 countries have introduced bans on conversion therapy. In 14 of these countries, the practice is banned regardless of who carries it out, including parents: Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Ecuador, France, Germany, Iceland, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Spain.
No one is allowed to ask simple questions, such as: Is such a law necessary, in light of evidence of actual harm? Does such a law not undermine existing rights, such as the right to raise and care for one’s own children? Is it a duplication of existing laws? Can the law be enforced at all?
The British bill on conversion therapy should be scrapped before it causes real harm, according to The Telegraph. The same should apply to the existing Norwegian law.
