Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has launched a fierce attack on Health Secretary Wes Streeting, accusing him of taking the transgender debate 'back to square one' by approving an experimental trial of puberty blockers for vulnerable children.
A Heated Political Clash
In a strongly-worded letter, Ms Badenoch called on Mr Streeting to halt the trial before 'more damage is done', stating firmly that 'no child is born in the wrong body'. The intervention comes despite Mr Streeting announcing an indefinite ban on puberty blockers for under-18s last December, citing what he described as an 'unacceptable safety risk'.
The Health Secretary had previously pointed to what he called the 'scandal' of thousands of children being prescribed the powerful medication without conclusive proof of its safety. However, last weekend saw the announcement of a new trial that could see 226 children as young as 10 given puberty-halting drugs if regulatory approval is granted.
The Core of the Disagreement
In her correspondence with the Health Secretary, the Tory leader argued that the trial is founded on what she termed a 'discredited, yet still seemingly entrenched, belief in some quarters that a child can be "born in the wrong body"'.
She asserted: 'Your job is to promote the health of the nation, not indulge an ideology that has permanently damaged so many children.' Ms Badenoch further criticised what she described as the 'shameful habit of treating normal childhood challenges as illness'.
Emphasising the fundamental principle of medical ethics, she wrote: 'The number one rule of medicine is simple: do no harm. We call on the Government to honour that principle and stop this trial from going ahead before more damage is done to children who are too young to understand what they are doing to themselves.'
The Cass Review Connection
The trial was among recommendations made by Baroness Hilary Cass in her landmark review into children questioning their gender. The Cass Review found that young people had been 'let down by a lack of research' and 'remarkably weak' evidence supporting medical interventions.
Baroness Cass advised 'extreme caution' around using hormone treatment in under-18s and recommended establishing a clear clinical rationale for not waiting until patients reach 18. Following the trial's launch, Baroness Cass commented: 'Given that there are clinicians, children and families who believe passionately in the beneficial effects, a trial was the only way forward to make sense of this.'
However, Ms Badenoch countered in her letter that long-term data on puberty blocker use in children 'already exists, but those holding it refuse to release it'. She argued: 'Instead of using that evidence, the Government has chosen to run a new experiment on a fresh group of physically healthy children.'
Trial Details and Political Fallout
The study, led by researchers at King's College London, will include participants as young as ten to eleven years old for girls and eleven to twelve for boys. The maximum age for participants will be fifteen years and eleven months.
The trial design will see one group of 113 children given puberty blockers for two years, while the other half will receive the drugs after a one-year delay. This means it will be four years before any results are published. Researchers expect to begin patient recruitment in the new year, with some participants potentially remaining on the drugs beyond the trial if deemed 'clinically appropriate'.
In response to Ms Badenoch's letter, Mr Streeting expressed surprise on social media platform X, noting that the Conservative government had commissioned the Cass Review 'and accepted its recommendations in full'. He added: 'I did, too, and am implementing it. I'm keen to maintain a cross-party approach on such a sensitive issue.'
In a written statement to Parliament, the Health Secretary acknowledged this is a 'challenging issue, where there are understandable concerns around safety, efficacy and consent', but emphasised that there is 'strict eligibility criteria in place - including clinical review and parental consent'. He stated the trial will 'provide better evidence for how the NHS can support and treat young people with gender incongruence'.
