Rishi Sunak to ‘row back on plans to ban gay and trans conversion therapy amid Tory divisions’

Rishi Sunak will kick plans for a ban on gay and trans conversion therapy into the long grass, as dozens of Tory MPs urged the prime minister not to include it in the King’s Speech, according to reports.

Following claims that the government was “stuck in a loop” amid disagreements on the wording of the ban, the prime minister was reported this week to finally be planning to include a draft bill in the King’s Speech next month to prohibit conversion therapy.

Mr Sunak’s chief whip Simon Hart had warned him the government could face a rebellion if it failed to introduce the bill banning attempts to change someone’s sexuality, according to The Times.

The bill was also said to be set to protect transgender people from efforts to change anyone’s gender, a crucial inclusion which LGBT+ campaigners had been demanding.

But now just days later the plans are set to be dropped by No 10. More than 40 Tory MPs having signed a letter demanding that Mr Sunak does not include the draft bill in the King’s Speech, which sets out ministers’ legislative agenda for the following year.

Instead, Mr Sunak will publish a draft bill which he will consult MPs on, which will run down the clock so that the plans would not become law before the next general election, according to The Sun.

“There is no way conversion therapy is becoming law before the election,” a government source told the paper, while another said: “It is not in the King’s Speech. No one is running at this.”

One Tory MP – who said that, “under no circumstances am I ever voting for a conversion therapy ban – ever” – was quoted as claiming that the PM “will face a massive revolt if he tries to push this through”.

It follows intense lobbying by Miram Cates, ITV’s Paul Brand reported, sharing screenshots of WhatsApp messages the Tory MP purportedly sent to her colleagues this week urging them to voice their opposition to No 10 and the party whips over the long-awaited bill.

“This Bill will anger our base, split the party and effectively put a Stonewall charter into law. We have a matter of days to persuade No 10 to pull it,” Ms Cates appears to have written, asking MPs to sign the letter to Mr Sunak.

Downing Street told The Independent it would not comment on the contents of the King’s Speech.

Mr Sunak’s ministers had previously promised a draft bill to ban religious groups from trying to change someone’s sexuality would be set out by the end of the parliamentary session.

But equalities minister Kemi Badenoch expressed concerns earlier this year about the risks of “criminalising” parents and teachers for trying to offer guidance to young people, as suggestions the plans could be watered down began to emerge.