Nigel Farage will NOT pledge to ban trans inmates from women's jails
Vanessa Frake, a former prison governor who oversaw the detention of Rose West, said decisions on where to house inmates should be made on an 'individual basis'.
Asked for his views on her comments yesterday, the Reform UK leader told the Daily Mail: 'I've personally never worked in a prison so I can't answer [the question] but I think you'll find that the answer that you'll get from somebody who has worked in prisons at the highest possible level is, I think, basically it's about risk assessment, isn't it?
'But in terms of the problems in prisons, it's a relatively small one.'
A Reform spokesman later added of Ms Frake: 'An ex-prison governor... has a different opinion. That does not constitute party policy.'
In an interview to mark her appointment, Ms Frake said decisions about trans prisoners should be made on a case-by-case basis. But she told The Times that sexual offenders may need to be held in male prisons.
'It's all about the risk assessments for me, and each has to be done on an individual basis,' she said.
Ms Frake said trans prisoners she had overseen were 'accepted' by other inmates and added: 'People who want to just say a blanket ban clearly have never stepped foot in a prison and seen how prison runs and how risk assessments on individuals happen.'
But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Reform's 'law and order' plan was 'hiding a complete betrayal of women's safety'.
'Nigel Farage promised a major crime announcement but instead delivered an adviser who thinks men belong in women's prisons.
'Farage calls that a 'small' issue – tell that to the women who've been sexually assaulted and terrorised behind bars.'
Mr Farage criticised 'transgender indoctrination' in Britain earlier this year but has also defended his record on trans rights.
This year the Supreme Court ruled trans women can be excluded from women-only spaces, including prisons.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Inside the depraved world of migrant hunters using disturbing tactics to track down asylum hotels
'You're a traitor.' Those were the words heckled last week to a driver pulling into RAF Wethersfield, a former Ministry of Defence airbase in Essex currently being used to house asylum seekers. Livestreamed from an iPhone to tens of thousands of people online, the clip shows a group of so-called migrant hunters hurling abuse at the driver, presumed to be a worker at the airbase, and threatening to publish his car's number plate. This – verbally abusing staff and police officers on camera, before sharing the incident with fellow 'patriots' – appears to be the modus operandi of the self–proclaimed migrant hunters, who are on the rise amid growing unrest over the government's handling of the migration crisis. Often posing as journalists, these far-right activists will turn up at accommodation centres and hotels with the intention of harassing those who work and live there. They then post the footage online with the aim of – according to experts – laying the groundwork for anti-migrant protests, which often descend into violence. They also use Facebook and X to spread information about the locations of hotels which have been earmarked by the government to house asylum seekers. A post shared time after time in this corner of the internet is an interactive map, purporting to show the location of more than 200 hotels across the UK where migrants live. Their methods for identifying accommodation for asylum seekers appear to be a myriad of tip-offs from disgruntled employees at the hotels in question, information from locals, as well as meticulous monitoring of to check which 3* hotels have been blocked out for mass bookings. Some of the most prominent migrant hunters have nearly 200,000 followers on X and tweet around 20 times a day, often peddling false and dangerous rumours about those inside the hotels. Among the more disturbing posts are unfounded claims of an upcoming terror attack, littered among AI generated images of far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Recent research from the anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate found the number of migrant hunters had doubled since 2021 and that they had visited hotels housing asylum seekers on more than 250 occasions. But activity on social media accounts connected to the movement has ramped up particularly in recent weeks, following anti-migrant protests in Epping, Essex which triggered similar demonstrations across the country. The unrest began in July after an asylum seeker from Ethiopia, believed to be staying at The Bell Hotel, was charged with sexual assault, including that of a 14-year-old girl. Since then, protests have taken place in cities such as Manchester, London, Bournemouth and Edinburgh, with more planned for Friday evening as part of what organisers have called Abolish Asylum Day – a mass protest at eight different locations across the country where asylum seekers are being housed. Far-right groups have been encouraging such protests for years, yet concerns are growing over the invasive tactics used by the migrant hunters, who appear to spend their time travelling to various hotels, doxxing their opposition and harassing those temporarily given refuge there. They then use messaging apps such as Telegram, Signal and Whatsapp to spread the word Speaking to The Independent, Joe Mullhall, director of research at Hope Not Hate, said these individuals first became prominent online during the spring of 2021. 'Originally they were on the beaches, filming the arrival of boats and doing daily tallies, before moving from areas like Dover to the accommodation centres. They were the content creating machine that was sitting under the far-right.' he said. 'They would release daily vlogs and livestreams which would percolate through the far-right system and get picked up by people like Tommy Robinson. They have been quite important in pushing cross-Channel migration up the agenda of the far-right.' Having analysed the locations of protests, the anti-racism charity spotted a pattern – hotels targeted during the summer of violence in 2024 had often been visited multiple times by migrant hunters. Riots were sparked across the UK last July after three girls were killed in a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, with a wave of misinformation on social media falsely claiming the killer was a Muslim asylum seeker. Mr Mullhall added: 'Where we saw those atrocious scenes and arson outside the Holiday Inn in Rotherham, migrant hunters had visited that hotel 12 times between 2021 and 2024. It's interesting because that hotel is not in the city centre – people knew where to go, migrant hunters had laid the groundwork.' Momentum has picked up again and these activists are once again livestreaming themselves at protests, quickly racking up thousands of comments and clicks online. In Epping, one protest organiser told The Independent they had been made aware that the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf in London's financial district was being repurposed by the Home Office after being contacted by an employee who had been made redundant. Two protests broke out there after the information spread online. Meanwhile, one former soldier, who claims to have raised more than £30,000 in donations to help fund an anti-migrant movement called the Great British National Protest, claims to be behind 20 demonstrations around the UK. Richard Donaldson, 33, told The Times the money raised would be used to fund 'covert investigations inside hotels', and claimed to have recruited members of staff who were supposedly willing to wear hidden body cameras and share intelligence. 'There has been a proliferation of online social media accounts that are promoting anti-migrant sentiments,' Sabby Dhalu, co-convenor of Stand Up To Racism said. 'Firstly since Elon Musk took over X and secondly since Donald Trump became President, there has been a shift in the algorithm, a bias towards far-right material. Such content is getting a wider reach.' She added: 'We've noticed in our demonstrations that people say they are journalists and pick up their phones, but what they are really doing is doxxing people and identifying people they can target.' On Monday, the Home Office announced it was providing another £100 million to tackle people smuggling and Sir Keir Starmer has struck a deal to return Channel migrants to France in exchange for asylum seekers with ties to the UK. While the move has been criticised by refugee charities, the government are hoping it will prevent an outbreak of similar disorder to that of last summer. Enver Solomon, CEO of Refugee Council, said: 'Protests against people seeking asylum is causing alarm amongst adults and children who have fled war in countries such as Sudan and Afghanistan. 'Last summer, we witnessed refugees we support fear for their lives as an angry mob tried to set fire to the hotel where they were living. Rhetoric that dehumanises people who've come to Britain seeking sanctuary creates a climate where violence can flourish. 'Our frontline staff work in many of the communities affected and see that most people are fair-minded and compassionate. While they may have valid questions about why hotels are used, these concerns are being hijacked by a violent minority. 'Asylum hotels have become flashpoints – a symbol of a broken system that traps people in limbo, unable to work or rebuild their lives at huge public cost.'
Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
Kick It Out reports a rise in sexism, transphobia abuse in UK football season
Aug 6 (Reuters) - The 2024-25 UK soccer season saw a rise in reports of sexism, transphobia and faith-based abuse, said the UK-based anti-discrimination and inclusion charity Kick It Out. A Kick It Out statement said the charity received 1,398 reports of abuse, up from 1,332 last season. It said the reports came from people who said they had experienced or witnessed discrimination online or at a grassroots, non-league or professional game. The charity did not identify the abusers. Sexism and misogyny increased by 67%, while faith-based abuse also saw a sharp rise. Reports of homophobic abuse fell slightly but transphobic abuse doubled last season, said Kick It Out, who incorporate incidents from across professional soccer, grassroots and social media. Reports of racist incidents in professional soccer rose from 223 to 245, despite a drop in overall reports of racism across all levels of the game. "These figures show that discrimination remains deeply embedded across the game, but the rise in abuse in youth football should be a wake-up call," Kick It Out CEO Samuel Okafor in a statement on Tuesday. "What we're seeing now is that fans aren't just reporting abuse, they're demanding action. There's been a clear shift this season in how people are calling out sexist behaviour, both online and in stadiums, and asking football to treat it as seriously as any other form of hate. "Fans are doing their part by speaking up. It's now up to football authorities, tech companies and government to show they're listening, and to act."
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
YouTube ads should be monitored like traditional media, say Lib Dems
YouTube adverts should be vetted in the same way as traditional media to protect consumers against scams and harmful content, according to the Lib Dems. The party said adverts on the video streaming service should be screened for 'harmful and misleading content' and brought under the regulation of media watchdog Ofcom. Culture spokesman Max Wilkinson MP told the BBC the social media platform was operating under a 'lighter touch' advertising regime. 'Regulations need to catch up with the reality of how people are watching content and unscrupulous advertisers must not be allowed to use loopholes to exploit people,' he said. 'We cannot allow a two-tier system where traditional broadcasters face robust scrutiny, while a digital giant like YouTube is allowed to mark its own homework.' Industry bodies Radio Central and Clearcast currently pre-approve most ads before they go to air. YouTube advertising is not subject to the same type of pre-clearance checks. YouTube is now the second most-watched media service in the UK, behind the BBC and ahead of ITV, according to an annual Ofcom report. Overall, people spent an average of four hours and 30 minutes a day watching TV and video content at home in 2024, with broadcast TV still making up 56% of in-home viewing, the regulator said. 'It's time for the regulator to treat YouTube adverts much more like TV and radio adverts, to protect UK consumers from misleading or harmful content. The government needs to act now,' Mr Wilkinson said. A spokesman for the Advertising Standards Authority, which monitors adverts on TV, radio and online, todl the BBC the cases highlighted by the Lib Dems came under Ofcom's reach under the Online Safety Act, but it would support their work and 'continue to play a disruptor role by reporting them and working with platforms to have them removed'. According to Ofcom, people spent 39 minutes a day on YouTube in 2024, with 16 minutes of this on the household's TV set. Younger adults aged 16 to 34 are driving the trend, watching 18 minutes of YouTube a day on TV, while one in five children aged four to 15 (20%) head straight to the app as soon as they turn the set on. Even those aged over 55 have almost doubled the time they spend watching YouTube on their TVs compared with the previous year – up from six minutes a day in January 2023 to 11 minutes in December. YouTube's soaring popularity comes as the platform's content has evolved, with half of its top-trending videos now more closely resembling traditional TV, including long-form interviews and game shows, Ofcom said. Ofcom has been approached for comment.
