Four most troubling moments from Kemi Badenoch’s Women and Equalities Committee scrutiny

The work of women’s and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch was scrutinised during a combative cross-party committee meeting, which descended into a heated exchange over the idea that being trans is a “disease”. 

Badenoch, who is also the secretary of state for business and trade, appeared alongside the government’s Equality Hub director Marcus Bell. 

A number of LGBTQ+-related topics, including conversion therapy, changes to the definition of “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act, access to gender-affirming care and waiting times for gender clinics, as well as the work of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), sex-education guidance and policies affecting disabled people, were discussed during the meeting on Wednesday (13 December). 

This was the second time Badenoch hs appeared before the committee, previously doing so in March when she was quizzed over the continued lack of a ban on conversion therapy. 

These are the four key moments from Badenoch’s latest appearance.