Sir Keir’s Labour government may have only been in power for a week, but already it is experiencing party splits. The Sunday Telegraph reported this weekend that allies of Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner fear she is being ‘frozen out’ of the top team — and now new Health Secretary Wes Streeting is facing dissent over his puberty blocker plans.
Streeting announced last week that, following the findings of the Cass review into gender services, there would be a permanent ban placed on puberty-halting drugs used on children with gender dysphoria. The use of these meds had already been temporarily paused by the NHS after the publication of Dr Hilary’s rather damning report this year, which put forward a number of recommendations for UK gender clinics. But while Streeting’s extension of the ban has been lauded by many, not everyone is on board with the move. The director of the Good Law Project, Jolyon Maugham – who once clubbed a fox to death while wearing a kimono – claimed the plans will ‘kill trans children’ and is challenging the ban in High Court.
Defending his decision, the Health Secretary took to Twitter to explain his rationale. ‘There’s lots of fear and anxiety,’ Streeting stated, before blasting some ‘public statements’ on the issue as being ‘highly irresponsible and could put vulnerable young people at risk’.
He went on:
Cass Review found there is not enough evidence about the long-term impact of puberty blockers for gender incongruence to know whether they are safe or not, nor which children might benefit from them. The evidence should have been established before they were ever prescribed… The former Health Secretary issued an emergency order to extend the restriction on prescription to the private sector, which I am defending… We don’t yet know the risks of stopping pubertal hormones at this critical life stage. That is the basis upon which I am making decisions. I am treading cautiously in this area because the safety of children must come first.
Strong stuff. Yet not all of his own colleagues are convinced, having taken to social media themselves this weekend in protest. Talk about trouble in paradise…
See the full list of Wes’s critics here:
- Stella Creasey: ‘Cass review recommended caution, not exclusion, for any treatment… [I] will always be [an] MP who listens to demand for better research and evidence base for help for those with gender dysphoria, not [one who] abandons them.’
- Nadia Whittome: ‘I know the distress the puberty blockers ban is causing… No matter what happens in court, I will continue fighting for the government to scrap it.’
- Zarah Sultana: ‘Young people – cis and trans – must have access to healthcare they need. I’ll always stand with the trans community.’
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