Minister hints at wider NDA curbs after Walliams claims

The government is considering extending restrictions on the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson has stated. This review follows allegations made against author and former Britain's Got Talent judge David Walliams, who denies any wrongdoing.

Walliams was named in an investigation by The Guardian and ITV News on Tuesday. The investigation detailed allegations from multiple women, including one who described an alleged encounter when she was 15 as a "sexual assault", and others accusing him of "grooming" them as teenagers.

Review of Legal Injunctions

Ms Phillipson said on Sky News that there is "scope to go further" on restricting NDAs. She indicated that the government cannot permit a system where "rich and powerful individuals" can use legal tools to "silence women by their silence and stop things coming to light." The Ministry of Justice is examining measures to prevent injunctions from being misused, she added.

Speaking about the potential for a ban on NDAs, Ms Phillipson stated: "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." She believes injunctions are being misused by "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."

These developments come after Sky announced it would drop plans to distribute a film based on Walliams' book 'Fing' in the UK and Ireland in early 2027. Walliams, 55, has denied all wrongdoing. In a letter to journalists, he stated: "Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with. I realise I did not always take people's feelings properly into account. That is something I regret. And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did." He added, "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."

Since being named, Walliams has been dropped by his literary agent, and the BBC stated it was "in the process of removing" programmes such as Little Britain. A ministerial colleague, Satvir Kaur, told the Commons that a consultation on further limiting NDA usage is underway.