𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Kemi Badneoch has urged parents not to sign their children up to the NHS trial of puberty blockers. The Tory leader made the plea alongside Keira Bell, who was prescribed puberty blockers as a teenager but later “de-transitioned” and sued the scandal-hit Tavistock clinic.

When asked if parents were being put in an impossible position by children who demand to be given puberty blockers and in some cases threaten suicide if they are not allowed, Mrs Badenoch said: “A parent’s responsibility is to safeguard their child, and just because a child says, ‘if you don’t let me do this, I’m going to harm myself in some way’, is not a reason for parents to abandon that responsibility. I don’t deny that it’s difficult for parents. Those parents are in a difficult situation, but this is not the answer.”

She added: “What worries me is that all of the calculations the Labour Party are making are about whether or not it’ll harm their leadership chances. I’m worried about what’s going to harm young people like Keira, not about whether it’s going to be good for my political career.

“This is not about who’s going to be leader of the Labour Party. This is about the future of many young children whose lives will be damaged irreparably if this trial goes ahead.”

A new UK clinical trial to assess the risks and benefits of puberty-blocking drugs in children who question their gender was announced in November.

It follows the banning of the drugs for gender treatment last year after a major review raised concerns about the lack of clinical evidence over their safety for under-18s.

Ms Bell, 28, was given puberty blockers at 16, then cross-sex hormones a year later, but she was wrongly told they were reversible and was not warned of the potential consequences.

When asked what her message would be to children who are considering signing up, she replied: “It’s up to the parents. I think parents need to remember that they have authority over their child and not the state.

“So the parents are very much in charge here, and they should be the ones to safeguard their own children. There’s enough information out there to say that this isn’t safe, it’s unethical, and it’s going to damage their children for life.”

Puberty blockers, also known as puberty-suppressing hormones, are drugs used to delay or prevent puberty.

They were used to treat some young people with gender incongruence – when someone’s gender identity doesn’t match the sex they were registered at birth – or with gender dysphoria, when it causes significant distress.