Kemi Badenoch calls for equality laws to be tightened to protect women from 'predators' exploiting loopholes

Equality laws must be tightened to protect women because 'predators' seeking to exploit loopholes outnumber transgender people, Kemi Badenoch told MPs last night.

The Equalities Minister said trans people were 'living peacefully' until some men started to take advantage of lax rules to expose themselves in bathrooms or try to get into female prisons. 

She also said treatment such as puberty-blocking drugs should be 'the last resort' for young people questioning their gender – and claimed many such children have been influenced by social media and peer pressure.

In a combative performance, Mrs Badenoch clashed with a Labour MP after being accused of using inflammatory language. 

The minister urged: 'What I find most difficult is that every time people raise concerns and I say we should look at this, I then get lots of attacks, lots of abuse about being transphobic… simply for talking about policy.'

Appearing before the Women and Equalities Select Committee, Mrs Badenoch was asked about her plan to rewrite the Equality Act on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity, which would mean transgender women [born male] could no longer access female-only spaces such as changing rooms and toilets.

She said: 'It is [because of] the behaviour of people who are choosing to exploit rights given to transgender people – because the definition is very loose – that we are now having to look at what we can do in order to protect women and children.'