Given that Labour has an almost 100% chance of winning the next general election, activists who have long opposed experimental treatment of children questioning their gender are keen to hear what the party’s leading lights have to say about a new and important report.
The Family Education Trust (FET) research institute told The European Conservative that it “welcomes” some of the comments from one senior Labour figure, but argued that more clarification is needed from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer himself.
The long-awaited Cass Review found that the treatment of children who say they are transgender “is an area of remarkably weak evidence.” Its author, paediatrician Dr. Hillary Cass, concluded that these children should not be rushed into treatment they might later regret, but should instead first receive psychological help which could find that they actually have other mental health issues.
In response, senior Labour figure Wes Streeting, who is the party’s representative on health and social care issues, said he has been wrong in the past to declare that “some people are trans, get over it—this is all blown out of proportion.” Streeting added that he will “absolutely take the criticism on the chin” for having previously ignored “all sorts of complexities” surrounding the issue.
Streeting did not stop there. He wrote on Wednesday that the Cass Review “must be a watershed moment for the [National Health Service’s] gender identity services,” and that “the next Labour government will work to implement the expert recommendations of the Cass Review, to ensure that young people are receiving appropriate and high-quality care.”
But herein lies the problem. Plenty of figures both in and around the Labour Party are agitating for it to reject the review, along with all its recommendations.
‘Momentum,’ a campaign group founded to support the leadership of hard-leftist Jeremy Corbyn, claimed that “the Cass Review ignored dozens of scientific studies, coming to a harmful conclusion of limiting access to gender-affirming care for trans youth.”
Similar arguments have been put forward by the Labour For Trans Rights campaign group, which criticised Streeting for accepting the report “so nonchalantly and uncritically.” The new National Labour Students chair, Ruby Herbert, also said “The unscientific methods of this report are further evidence of the government’s refusal to listen to trans people … and the Labour Party must stand up for trans people.”
A female Labour MP has also complained about being “blanked, sidelined and dismissed” by her male colleagues for campaigning against gender ideology.
FET representative Lucy Marsh told this publication that
We urge Keir Starmer to clarify Labour’s position and outline how they intend to safeguard vulnerable children.
She added that while the group welcomes Streeting’s comments, describing these as “refreshing,” it “appears that there is huge disagreement between shadow ministers on how Labour will move forward with transgender issues.”
We are also very concerned that it will be impossible for a Labour government to commit to upholding the findings of the Cass Review while they are insistent on pushing through a trans-inclusive ban on ‘conversion therapy.’
Unfortunately, it seems likely that Labour’s actual position will only be made clear once it is in office and is legislating.
