Would-be Tory leader Kemi Badenoch vows to offer JK Rowling a peerage praising her 'fight' on gender rights
Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has pledged to offer JK Rowling a peerage praising her 'fight' on gender rights.
The former equalities minister enthused about the pro-women stance taken by the Harry Potter author.
Asked whether she would give the former Labour supporter a peerage, Ms Badenoch told Talk TV: 'I would. I don't know whether she would take it. I certainly would give her a peerage.'
Ms Badenoch said Ms Rowling and paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass - who carried out a review of NHS gender identity services - should get 'protection' because they are 'attacked relentlessly by all sorts of oddballs and bad people'.
Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch (pictured) has pledged to offer JK Rowling a peerage praising her 'fight' on gender rights
The former equalities minister enthused about the pro-women stance taken by the Harry Potter author (pictured)
Ms Badenoch said that she had 'managed' to get Dr Cass peerage so she could be 'a strong voice in Parliament'.
Lady Cass, as she now is, took her seat in the Lords on Monday having been elevated to the upper chamber as an independent crossbench peer in Rishi Sunak's dissolution honours earlier this year.
Her review, published in April, found care had been directed by 'ideology on all sides' and was based on 'remarkably weak evidence'.
It led to NHS England ending the prescription of puberty blockers for children experiencing gender dysphoria, with Scotland's only clinic offering gender services to young people following suit.
In her TalkTV interview, Ms Badenoch accused some Tory leadership candidates of 'throwing mud', agreeing that the campaign had been 'dirty'.
She also argued that ministers had been too quick to seek to 'blame' people for the Southport riots, rather than providing 'reassurance that (they) understand the issues'.
'People may have got the perpetrator's identity wrong, but the fact is some kids are not here today who should be here. That is an unspeakable tragedy,' she said.
Ms Badenoch said Ms Rowling and paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass (pictured) - who carried out a review of NHS gender identity services - should get 'protection' because they are 'attacked relentlessly by all sorts of oddballs and bad people'
