Farage splits with new prison tsar over trans women in female prisons
Vanessa Frake, a former prison governor, said on Monday that some transgender criminals should be imprisoned in women's jails.
She called for cases to be assessed 'on an individual basis', and said people who call for a blanket ban had 'clearly have never stepped foot in a prison'.
The comment was ridiculed by women's rights campaigners, including JK Rowling, who say trans women – biological men who identify as female – pose a threat to women in jail.
Mr Farage responded to the row on X: 'I have never supported men in women's prisons.'
Rupert Lowe, the former Reform MP, replied: 'You did yesterday.'
He added: 'If you were born with a penis, you don't go in with the women prisoners. It's really not that complicated.'
The Supreme Court ruled in April that trans women were not legally women under the Equality Act.
This judgment means that trans women can legally be excluded from women's prisons.
Two years ago there was a row when it emerged that Isla Bryson, a trans woman, had been put in a women's prison in Scotland despite having raped two women prior to transitioning.
In his response on Tuesday morning, Mr Farage linked to a video he uploaded on the day of the Supreme Court ruling in which he stated: 'At last the lunacy is over. The Supreme Court has declared that a woman is somebody who is biologically born a woman.
'An outbreak of common sense from our judiciary and something I think nearly the whole population will agree with.'
I have never supported men in women's prisons. https://t.co/z2CpIu2EeJ
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 5, 2025
Ms Frake, who also served as the head of security at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, told The Times: 'I'm not an expert on trans people, all that I know is that everybody should be treated with humanity and decency…
'There are equally vile women as there possibly are trans women. So it's all about the risk assessments for me, and each has to be done on an individual basis.'
She said trans prisoners she had overseen were 'accepted' by other inmates.
Ms Frake 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.'
Ms Rowling tweeted: 'Genuinely surprised anyone's shocked by this.
'Just because huge swathes of the Left have revealed themselves to be dripping in misogyny doesn't mean a massive chunk of the Right doesn't remain exactly as indifferent to women's rights and issues as it's always been.'
She added: 'All those people who tell me support for women's single-sex spaces means I must support Reform (which I don't) appear to share exactly the same opinion on women's single-sex spaces as Reform.'
'Serious human rights issue'
Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns for Sex Matters, a women's rights charity, said: 'Gender ideology has prompted political careers to come crashing to the ground, across the political spectrum.
'Anyone who thinks they can 'just be kind' is guaranteed to come a cropper on this issue. When a politician starts talking about everyone's humanity, or a case by case approach, you know they have not thought it through.
'Single-sex provision has to exclude everyone of the other sex, as the Supreme Court made clear.
'All sorts of vulnerable men have to be kept safe in male prisons. Anyone suggesting that some men should be in a women's prison is demonstrating a complete disregard for women, as well as a failure to engage seriously in the issues.'
She added: 'Politicians need to recognise that this is a serious human rights issue that can't be solved by hand-waving and talking about a small issue affecting a tiny minority or the most 'marginalised'.
'When sex matters in law, policy and public life, everyone is affected; denying that is particularly detrimental to women and girls, who are half the population.'
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