New ‘Office for Equality and Opportunity’ given Labour’s conversion therapy brief

The Government in Westminster has announced a new ‘Office for Equality and Opportunity’, which will oversee the drafting of a ‘conversion therapy’ Bill.

The Labour Government is committed to producing a ‘draft conversion practices Bill’ for England and Wales.

Perhaps more a rebrand than a major overhaul, the new Office for Equality and Opportunity replaces the ‘Equality Hub’ based in No.10’s Cabinet Office.

Before the election, it had been feared a Labour Government could rush legislation on ‘conversion therapy’ through, despite the many concerns raised by Christians and women’s groups.

Those calling for a new law often equate the ordinary work of churches – prayer, pastoral care and preaching – with horrific abuses that have long since stopped. Legal advice on previous attempts to legislate show that a law could severely impact religious freedom.

Equally, a new law could place more children on a one-way path to gender-transition, by effectively mandating automatic affirmation. Refusing to agree with a young person’s declaration that they are the other gender could land a person in serious trouble with the law.

Dame Nia Griffith MP is noted on the Government website as now having responsibility for a ‘conversion therapy’ Bill. As Minister for Women and Equalities, Anneliese Dodds MP will maintain close watch as the Minister in charge.

The Labour Party line, which it has maintained since before the election, is: “So-called conversion therapy is abuse – there is no other word for it”. That is what the manifesto proclaimed, and what we have heard several times since.

But if the Government is really talking only about abuse, no new law is needed. Abuse is already illegal. The Government can focus its attention on preventing abuse and getting justice for those who have been abused. This can be done under already-existing laws. It is something that the UK should be proud of.

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See also: Conversion therapy law could harm young women and girls: UN expert