Reform politician criticised for speech on children identifying as cats

A Reform politician has been accused of spreading misinformation after she said rival parties had "entertained" the idea of children self-identifying as cats.

Laura Anne Jones claimed in the Welsh Parliament that Labour and Plaid Cymru wanted to treat it "as completely normal", without providing evidence, during a speech attacking "gender ideology" in classrooms.

The Welsh Labour government denied Jones's claim and described her comments as "irresponsible", while Plaid declined to respond.

Jones, who posted the speech to Facebook where it has been viewed 32,000 times and shared by more than 600 users, said in a statement that the matter had been "raised" with her by parents.

BBC Wales asked Jones for examples of where Labour and Plaid had endorsed children self-identifying as cats, but her office did not provide any.

In 2023 a school in Pontypool was forced to deny online rumours that it was providing litter trays for pupils who identify as cats.

West Monmouth School, which is in the region that Jones serves as a Member of the Senedd (MS), wrote to parents to say it did not make "any provision for any pupils who might identify as an animal of any kind".

US podcast host Joe Rogan admitted in 2022 that he had fed discussion of the issue online when he went back on a claim he had made on his show.

Jones, who became a Reform MS last summer after she was elected as a Conservative at 2021 Senedd election, made the claim in a speech in Wales' parliament last Tuesday.

She spoke in the Senedd to criticise the Welsh education's system approach to how gender is discussed in classrooms.

She said: "Welsh Labour, cheered on by Plaid, have even entertained the idea - an utter madness - of children self-identifying as cats, treating it as completely normal."

Jane Hutt, the minister for government business, made no reference to her statement about cats in response, saying Education Secretary Lynne Neagle had previously said it was "really important that schools are inclusive".

The Welsh government said in a statement: "We categorically deny this."

It added: "This is an irresponsible claim based on social media misinformation."

Jones told the BBC in a statement she had a "strong track record of defending women and children against gender ideology in schools".

"This issue was raised with me by parents, and I know many parents would welcome a decisive statement from the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru ruling it out entirely for the future."

A spokesperson for Jones was asked for more details about the claim, but was told the party would not share identities of parents who had raised concerns, and suspected it would be a breach of data protection rules.