Reform's trans prisoner policy is a mess

Spectator

a day ago

Reform are in the headlines again, this time over confusion about their policy on trans prisoners. Yesterday Vanessa Frake, former prison governor and Reform's UK justice adviser, said that trans women should not automatically be removed from women's prisons, preferring an individual risk assessment. Nigel Farage seemed to echo this view, deferring to her experience and saying 'it's basically about risk assessment'. This announcement put the party at odds with the recent Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of 'sex'. It also put it at odds with reality.
Reform have since issued a partial disavowal, with Andrew Southall, one of the party's MP candidates in 2024, tweeting that 'Vanessa Frake is an adviser, not a policy maker', and that the party 'does NOT support putting biological men in women's prisons'. However also wrote that no man 'belongs in a women's prison if there's any risk to safety', which leaves the door open for exactly the risk assessments Frake, along with much of the Prison Service, prefers.
Frake's announcement has raised criticism from across the political spectrum, with Rupert Lowe telling me that, 'Sex is immutable, and law must reflect that…under no circumstances must males be permitted to enter female spaces, especially in prisons, where the risk of violence is elevated. That Reform are still five years behind on this debate is concerning given their present electoral prospects – they must get up to speed with where political and cultural discourse is in 2025.'
Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary said 'men don't belong in women's prisons. It's as simple as that. It's a clear risk to the safety of female prisoners, and it unwinds the welcome, overdue change that the Supreme Court's recent decision has led to. On this, Frake's instincts are clearly out of step with the views of the majority of the British public.'
At the moment Reform's position would put it to the left of the Lord Chancellor. Shabana Mahmood is very much seen as 'gender critical' within Labour politics. Despite inheriting a Tory policy under which trans prisoners can be moved to women's jails if they've had surgery and are not sex offenders, and if the Secretary of State approves it, no such moves have taken place since Mahmood took office. Indeed her remarks since the Supreme Court ruling point at her desire to tighten the rule.
Interviewed yesterday, Frake said 'I'm not an expert on trans people. All that I know is that everybody should be treated with humanity and decency'. Does humanity and decency require we place men of any sort in women's prisons?
From my experience I say absolutely not. When I was a prisoner at HMP Wandsworth a number of trans 'women' were jailed there. The prison kept them on the 'Vulnerable Prisoners' (VPs) wing, and one of them regularly attended the library where I worked. The prisoner dressed as a woman, and had clearly had surgery. There were no problems with them being in a men's prison. Of course, our prisons are not safe environments, but those on VP wings are safer than the average prisoner, and trans prisoners do not have their humanity or decency violated any more than any other inmate in a men's jail.
Even more important though, is the way in which transferring these men to women's prisons would violate the humanity and decency of those women. More than half of women in prison were abused as children (often at the hands of men), while almost 60 per cent have been victims of domestic abuse. Forcing these women to live with men, even men who 'present as women', is abusive and likely to retraumatise them. It also presents obvious risks to their safety. There is nothing decent about choosing to prioritise the demands of a very small number of men over the needs and rights of very vulnerable women.
Reform are also standing against public opinion here. Recent polling shows that the British people have become far more sceptical on trans issues. The polling company did not ask about prisons, but with 60 per cent saying that trans 'women' should not be allowed to use women's changing rooms, it's reasonable to believe that a clear majority want prisons to stay single-sex.
Reality, and the Supreme Court are clear: sex matters. Trans 'women' do not have a right to enter women's spaces, and the old demands that we 'be kind' hold no power. Frake, and Reform have simply got this wrong. When the Supreme Court, the Labour Lord Chancellor, Rupert Lowe and the electorate disagree with you, it's time to think again.
There are signs this morning that the party is listening. A spokesman said 'an ex-prison governor who is advising…has a different opinion. That does not constitute party policy'. Meanwhile Farage has tweeted that he has 'never supported men in women's prisons', to which Rupert Lowe replied 'you did yesterday'.
The last 24 hours have not reflected well on Reform. If they are to be treated as a government-in-waiting, they need to get serious, and clear about policy.