Labour divided over puberty blockers ban

TL;DR: Health Secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed that he supports bans on prescribing puberty blockers to trans youth issued by the NHS and the previous government. His statements led a number of Labour MPs and other figures within the party to voice their disagreement.

Labour’s new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, posted a thread on X last Sunday in an attempt to explain his support for bans on prescribing puberty blocker medication to trans young people - X

He cited the widely-criticised Cass Review, which found “there is not enough evidence” to know whether it is safe to prescribe puberty blockers in cases of gender dysphoria. However, despite his focus on this lack of evidence, he also made the unsupported claim that taking puberty blockers “affects children’s psychological and brain development”.

Government sources told the press that Streeting is “minded” to make the current temporary ban on private prescribing of puberty blockers permanent. He was also expected to make a written statement to parliament on Thursday explaining his reasoning, but this statement has not yet appeared at time of writing - Guardian

What was the reaction?

Several Labour MPs took to X to criticise Streeting and express their opposition to the bans in the wake of Streeting’s statement - PinkNews

Kim Johnson MP and Zarah Sultana MP both quoted Labour’s manifesto commitment to “remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition & acceptance", saying that Streeting’s actions did not reflect that promise.

One MP, Josh Newbury, has since deleted a thread on the topic he posted on Sunday, in which he expressed concern about the effects of the ban on trans young people’s mental health - X

Kate Osborne, the lesbian MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East who is currently bidding to chair the Women and Equalities Select Committee in the new parliament, highlighted in a blog post that “The Cass review recommended caution not exclusion” - Labour Outlook

LGBT+ Labour, a campaign group within the party, published a letter to Streeting on Monday in which it expressed concerns about maintaining the ban. The statement came on the same day that another group, Pride in Labour, announced its split from LGBT+ Labour, which it accused of having been “chronically silent” on trans rights issues - Labour List

What has been banned?

Following the publication of the Cass Review in April, NHS England restricted prescriptions of puberty blockers to under-18s as treatment for gender dysphoria - QueerAF

Then, in its last act before the dissolution of parliament for the general election, the outgoing Tory government made unprecedented use of emergency powers in the Medicines Act to ban private prescriptions of puberty blockers as well - QueerAF

That last minute ban is currently being challenged in a High Court Appeal led by the Good Law Project and TransActual, who contend that former Health Secretary Victoria Atkins used the emergency powers unlawfully - Good Law Project

In the course of that appeal, court documents have shown that Atkins directly told officials not to engage with any organisations that represent trans youth and their families in preparing the ban legislation.

What does it all mean?

The NHS restrictions on puberty blockers are already taking a significant toll on the mental health of trans young people in the UK, as many parents reached out to tell us when the restrictions came into force - QueerAF

Wes Streeting says that he is “determined to improve the quality of, and access to, care for trans people.” But it seems that, just like his Tory predecessor, he is more interested in listening to the flawed Cass Review and to so-called ‘gender critical’ campaigners than to trans youth themselves and their families.

Streeting has previously given speeches to the right-wing thinktank The Policy Exchange, which claims that “Gender Identity ideology” is threatening the NHS - BBC

Shortly before her party lost the general election, former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch boasted on X that she had worked to put people with ‘gender critical’ views in important government positions.

With a new government in place, we might have hoped that those harmful ideas would be less represented at the highest levels of power in this country. Unfortunately, Wes Streeting’s actions as Health Minister so far do not inspire much optimism.

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