Nigel Farage has called on Sir Keir Starmer to put a stop to a clinical trial into puberty blockers as he accused it of representing “state-sponsored child abuse”.
The Reform UK leader and four other MPs penned a letter to the Prime Minister to voice concerns about the potentially “irreversible consequences” of the study, which could involve participants as young as 10 years old.
The trial follows recommendations by the Cass Review into children’s gender care, which concluded that the quality of research claiming to show the benefits of puberty blockers for youngsters with gender dysphoria was “poor”.
Around 226 children and young people could be recruited as part of a larger study known as Pathways, which is estimated to cost £10.7million.
One group will be given puberty blockers for two years, while the other will be given the drugs after a one-year delay.
The Reform MPs wrote: “This trial will expose already vulnerable children to life-changing and irreversible consequences, the full extent of which is unknown.
“Children will be given powerful puberty blocking drugs, despite the absence of robust evidence on long-term physical, psychological, sexual and reproductive outcomes.
“Using children as experimental subjects in this way is ethically indefensible. The Pathways trial represents state-sponsored child abuse, dressed up as research, and is wholly incompatible with the NHS duty to safeguard children and do no harm.
Nigel Farage has called on Sir Keir Starmer to put a stop to a clinical trial into puberty blockers as he accused it of representing “state-sponsored child abuse”
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“Allowing this trial to proceed will place children at foreseeable risk while offering no credible justification that any potential benefit outweighs the harm. It will also risk further eroding public confidence in both the NHS and your Government.
“Reform UK is clear that, on entering government, we would bring this trial to an immediate end. In light of that, there is little purpose in allowing a trial to begin which lacks ethical credibility and long-term certainty.”
The letter was signed by Mr Farage, deputy leader Richard Tice, Lee Anderson MP, Sarah Pochin MP and Danny Kruger MP.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said last week he was “deeply uncomfortable” with the trial, though Downing Street is yet to confirm if the Prime Minister is comfortable with the trial when asked about Mr Streeting’s comments.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he is ‘not comfortable’ with the trial, though he plans to go ahead
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“There’s something about the opposition to this. Medication that delays or indeed stops a natural part of our human development, which is puberty, I am deeply uncomfortable with,” Mr Streeting said.
“The two overriding concerns that I have, the only two really are: firstly, how do we keep these children safe? And how do we make sure they receive effective and evidence-based care?”
Despite this, he added that he wanted to put the “political noise to one side” and follow “clinical advice”, which was to go ahead with the trial.
The Health Secretary is said to be open to discussion on the trial, though has no plans to cancel it as of now.
Kemi Badenoch and Shadow Health Secretary, Stuart Andrew, wrote to Mr Streeting on November 25 expressing their concerns that NHS England was supporting a clinical trial involving drugs that halted puberty.
The Conservative leader also said the party “will not stand for it.”
The Department of Health said: “This trial will help provide the evidence that is currently lacking.
“Its approval came only after extremely rigorous safety checks and with multiple safeguards in place to protect young people’s wellbeing – including clinical and parental approval.”