Using NDAs to silence ladies could possibly be banned after David Walliams allegations, minister says
Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said there is ‘scope to go further’ in restricting the use of NDAs, to ensure the legal system is not abused ‘yo silence women’
The David Walliams allegations could see a review of NDA’s(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for DKMS)
The use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) should be reviewed in the aftermath of the David Walliams allegations, a minister has claimed.
Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said there is “scope to go further” in restricting the use of NDAs, to ensure the legal system is not abused “to silence women”.
The Little Britain actor was this week accused of allegedly using his celebrity status to prey on teenagers and young women for sex, which he denies. The 55-year-old had launched an unsuccessful bid to obtain an injunction to prevent their publication.
Asked on Sky News about the possibility of banning NDAs altogether, Ms Phillipson said the Government does need to look at going “further”.
She said: “I think there is scope to go further on this to make sure that we do not see the legal system basically abused in order to silence women.”
Asked if that included looking at a ban, Ms Phillipson said: “Yes, because we cannot have a system where rich and powerful individuals, rich and powerful men, are able to silence women by their silence and stop things coming to light.”
The senior minister added injunctions were being misused by “rich men” who “seek to commit acts of violence against women or seek to behave in a way that is completely inappropriate will use whatever is available at their disposal to do that.”
The Ministry of Justice colleagues is now looking at what the Government can do to intervene so injunctions are not misused.
An investigation claims that he abused his power and position for sexual purposes on a multiple occasions with teenagers as young as 15 as a number of women made new allegations against him.
One claims he first began contacting her when she was 15, after meeting her at a Little Britain fan event, and alleges they started a sexual relationship when she was 17.
Since Walliams was named in the ITV News and Guardian investigation, he has been dropped by his literary agent, while the BBC said it was “in the process of removing” programmes including Little Britain.
In a letter understood to have been sent several months ago by Walliams to journalists working on the ITV News and Guardian investigation, he wrote: “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
