Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has joined forces with a young woman who regrets her own gender transition to issue a stark warning to parents about a major NHS clinical trial on puberty blockers.
A Direct Appeal to Families
Mrs Badenoch has explicitly urged families across the UK not to participate in the upcoming study, commissioned by NHS England and run by King’s College London. The trial plans to prescribe the powerful drugs to 200 young people who wish to identify as the opposite sex for a period of two years. She argued that the Labour Party, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting in particular, are prioritising political leadership ambitions over the safety of vulnerable children.
"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," Mrs Badenoch stated. "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."
The Voice of Experience: Keira Bell's Cautionary Tale
Her comments followed a meeting in Parliament this week with Keira Bell, now 28, who was prescribed puberty blockers at 16 and later took cross-sex hormones. Ms Bell has since 'detransitioned' and successfully sued the Tavistock gender clinic, arguing that children cannot properly comprehend the lifelong consequences of such treatments.
Speaking about her experience, Ms Bell told the meeting she was wrongly informed the treatments were reversible and was not adequately warned of potential consequences. She described children in the proposed trial as "guinea pigs" who would be "put down a path that is going to affect them for the rest of their lives."
Addressing the difficult position of parents whose children may demand treatment, Mrs Badenoch was firm: "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."
Political Pressure and NHS Safeguards
The Tory leader claimed Mr Streeting, who is under pressure to scrap the trial, cares more about his chances of becoming the next Labour leader than protecting children. She framed the issue as one of profound child welfare, stating: "This is about the future of many young children whose lives will be damaged irreparably if this trial goes ahead."
In response, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has defended the trial's proposed safeguards. In a letter to Labour MP Rosie Duffield, he outlined a 'triple lock of checks' before any child receives puberty blockers. This process requires each young person to be assessed by a new regional gender service, give their "informed assent" demonstrating they understand the risks, and have parental consent. A final decision must then be ratified by a national multidisciplinary team.
Mr Streeting argued this rigorous process means only a 'very small number of children will actually qualify' for the trial. Despite these assurances, the warnings from Badenoch and Bell highlight the intense and deeply personal political debate surrounding gender treatments for minors in the UK.
