Labour MP blasts Wes Streeting over ‘immoral’ puberty blocker trial branding it a ‘shameful experiment on youngsters’

A Labour backbencher has made a fresh plea for Health Secretary Wes Streeting to stop a controversial trial of puberty blocking drugs.

Jonathan Hinder, the MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, branded the ‘immoral’ trial as ‘a shameful experiment on children’.

He is among dozens of MPs and peers who are calling for Mr Streeting to think again about the ‘Pathways’ trial for gender-questioning youngsters.

The King’s College London trial will involve around 226 people aged between 10 and almost 16 and was recommended by the Cass Review into children’s gender care.

The review concluded that the quality of research claiming to show the benefits of puberty blockers for youngsters with gender dysphoria was ‘poor’.

Mr Streeting has admitted he is ‘uncomfortable’ with puberty-suppressing hormones being used on young people, but said it is his responsibility to follow expert advice.

A large group of parliamentarians last month signed a cross-party letter to the Health Secretary to warn that continuing with the trial is a ‘dangerous mistake’.

Mr Hinder has now penned a joint newspaper article with Conservative MP Rebecca Paul, who has also signed the letter, in a further attempt to stop the trial.

A Labourbackbencher has made a fresh plea for Health Secretary Wes Streetingto stop a controversial trial of puberty blocking drugs

Jonathan Hinder, the MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, branded the ‘immoral’ trial as ‘a shameful experiment on children’.

The wrote in the Daily Express: ‘The NHS is set to run a shameful experiment on children.

‘Physically healthy kids, some as young as eight, will be injected with drugs commonly known as ‘puberty blockers’.

‘These medications stop the child’s natural growth in an attempt to ‘correct’ them, because they do not conform to sexist gender stereotypes – where boys like football and girls like Barbies.

‘These children are often beginning to grapple with their sexuality, are neurodivergent, or are traumatised, so they are especially vulnerable.

‘Puberty can be a tough time for anyone. But what children need is support to accept their healthy bodies as they are, rather than being told their bodies are somehow ‘wrong’.

‘Puberty blockers will put them on the path to sterilisation, lack of sexual function, and needing medical treatment for life.

‘All before they are old enough to know what is happening to them. No child can consent to this.’

The MPs added it was ‘incumbent’ on Mr Streeting to act on his ‘correct’ instincts about the trial.

‘Two thousand children have already taken puberty blockers over the last 15 years, so we can already assess the damaging impact of these drugs on children in the short and longer term,’ Mr Hinder and Ms Paul continued.

‘The voters elect politicians to make decisions, not to pass the buck. Ministers must listen to a range of experts, consider the issue in the round, and then make a decision in the best interests of the British people.

‘Together, we are asking the Health Secretary to demonstrate that much-needed political leadership now.’

Mr Streeting last month told MPs he is also not comfortable with the current ban on puberty blockers ‘because I had to look children and young people in the eye and their parents, who told me in no uncertain terms that that decision was harmful to them’.

The ban, which was made permanent in December 2024, means puberty blockers are not prescribed on the NHS to children for the treatment of gender dysphoria outside clinical trials, with the agreement of devolved governments across the UK.

Explaining why the Pathways trial is going ahead, Mr Streeting said: ‘The reason why, whatever my discomfort in this extremely sensitive area, I have made this decision is because I am following clinical advice and because, as Health Secretary, it is my responsibility to follow expert advice.’

He added: ‘Am I uncomfortable about puberty-suppressing hormones for this group of young people, for this particular conditions? Yes, I am, because of risks.

‘It is why I was also uncomfortable when I… upheld the temporary ban by my predecessor, but then put in place a permanent ban.

‘The reason I was uncomfortable with that too is because I had to look children and young people in the eye, and their parents, who told me in no uncertain terms that that decision was harmful to them, as have many other clinicians who have opposed that decision.

‘I’m following clinical advice. It is not comfortable but I do believe it is the right thing to do on balance.’

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is among those opposed to the trial and has written to Mr Streeting saying it must be stopped ‘before more damage is done to children’.