A fierce disagreement broke out during a GB News panel discussion over whether transgender prisoners should ever be placed in women's facilities today, after Nigel Farage clarified his stance on the matter.

The Reform UK leader posted on social media today: "I have never supported men in women’s prisons" after facing criticism in a press conference.

His clarification came in response to Reform UK's new prison tsar Vanessa Frake advocating for risk assessments in prisons, rather than categorical exclusions based on biological sex.

Political commentator Piers Pottering firmly declared on The People's Channel that biological males have no place in female prisons, comparing gender identity claims to someone "identifying as a llama" and asking whether they would "get put in a zoo."

GB NEWS

Pottering said: "Reform UK needs to stop making blunders on policy announcements before thinking them through properly.

"Reform sells itself on straight-talking, direct, sensible policy but when they drift from that, they lose support. They may be well ahead right now, but it’s still a long way to the next election."

Fellow panellist Nigel Nelson said: "I think Vanessa is excellent, absolutely. She’s been right on the front line as a prison governor. She ran Holloway and Wandsworth.

"She made a powerful point about trans prisoners. I actually think a biological man should go to a men’s prison, just as women-only spaces must be preserved.

"But Vanessa argued that, with the right risk assessment, someone who’s lived as a trans woman for decades might suffer if placed in a male prison. It could be inhumane."

Host Andrew Pierce said: "Did she not notice the Supreme Court ruling?"

Nelson explained his point: "No, the Supreme Court ruling is different. It established that there is only one biological sex. If we were talking about gender, it would be different. But the ruling concerns biological sex. That’s why women-only spaces are legally protected once you segregate by sex."

GB NEWS

Miriam Cates hit back: "No, prisons are segregated by biological sex. There is no justification for placing a biological male in a women’s prison."

Pottering added: "Here’s my bottom line: women should go to women’s prisons; men should go to men’s prisons."

Frake, who also managed security at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, argued yesterday: "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."

Nigel Farage faced sharp criticism for his response when pressed about his adviser's position during Reform UK's press conference.

The Reform UK leader admitted: "I personally never worked in a prison, so I can't answer [that]."

He suggested that those with prison experience would likely conclude "basically it's about risk assessment."

Miriam stated that "he sees himself as the next Prime Minister" and added: "Nobody expects a Prime Minister to have worked in a school or hospital or prison but to have no opinion on such a major issue?"

X

The Reform UK leader has since clarified on X: "I have never supported men in women’s prisons" alongside a video where he celebrates the Supreme Court ruling.

Farage has also promised that his party will be the "toughest on crime that the UK has ever seen."

In a separate clip posted to X, he said: "Today we've come out with a series of policies that would make Reform UK - when we win the next general election - the toughest party on crime, law and order that this country has ever seen. And it is needed.

"Just look at what's happening. Phone crime, shoplifting, all these things happening without anybody ever being prosecuted. Theft from your home. You'll be lucky if the police even turn up.

"This is costing us a fortune. It's degrading our society. And we now have a situation where a majority of women are afraid to walk on the streets of London. And the same applies for other cities, too.

"So we intend to get tough on crime, tough on criminals, and even what we now regard as petty crime to us would be punished.

"We're going to build more prisons. We're going to deport foreign prisoners. We're going to recruit loads of police officers. We're going to get rid of rid of all diversity, inclusion, equity in hiring. We want actually lots of ex-service people in our police forces.

"We want the courts to operate 24/7 if they need to catch up. And you know what? We want to restore a bit of respect back into society. So we will take back control of our streets.

"We will deal with law and order, and I'm putting criminals on notice when we take control. Behave yourselves or we're going to get very, very tough on you."