A “no loopholes”, trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy would be introduced under a Labour government, an Oxford MP has announced

People responsible for anti-LGBT+ hate crime would also receive the “tougher sentences they deserve”, Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds said at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on Sunday.

Concerns have been expressed in parliament in recent weeks over the whereabouts of the government’s draft proposals to ban conversion therapy, which seeks to suppress a person’s sexual or gender identity.

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Ms Dodds, speaking at the conference, said: “Combating inequality is fundamental to our party, it’s why we’ll always take the right decision over the easy one and we’ll never descend into the gutter, where the Conservatives wish to take us.

“I know it’s been a difficult year for many LGBT+ people. Rising hate crime, including physical attacks, a Tory Government that treats their lives and their rights as a political football, and a Prime Minister that sees them as a cheap punchline.

“Labour will never do that. We believe everyone deserves to be accepted without exception and treated with respect and dignity.

“That’s why we will tackle the rising tide of hate with stronger laws so those who carry out anti-LGBT+ hate crime get the tougher sentences they deserve.

“We will deliver where the Conservatives have failed by bringing in a full, no loopholes, trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy.”

The government first announced its intention to ban so-called “gay cure” conversion therapies in 2018 as part of its LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) action plan.

The proposals were initially intended to be “universal” and protect all LGBT people, although in 2022 then-prime minister Boris Johnson defended a decision not to include trans people.