Puberty Suppressants Trial

Peter Swallow Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

The right hon. Member is right that we need that data linkage study. That will happen, but it will not produce the same evidence base as a clinical trial, and that is the distinction between the two. It is frankly a disgrace that people have sought to withhold that kind of data and it is really important that we get this right.

I appreciate the right hon. Member’s sympathy. I have wrestled with this issue probably more than any other ethical decision that I have had to make in this office. I do not seek any pity or sympathy for doing so—it is the job that I signed up to and a job that I love doing. I have taken great care and sensitivity in this area because of the particular vulnerability of this group of children and young people.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

It is fair to say that the recommendations of the Cass review were not welcomed by everyone—not least by all members of the LGBT+ community—but the Conservative party commissioned the review and accepted its findings, and the Labour party supported the review and supported its findings. Does the Secretary of State share my concern that there are those who would now seek to cherry pick which of the findings they agree with and which they do not? Is it not the case that an independent review with such serious and important findings should be accepted in its entirety?

[Wes Streeting]

When it was published—I was in the Chamber at the time—there was an overwhelming consensus in the House. There were some people who criticised and challenged the Cass review at the time, including some outside the House in the LGBT community. I have always supported the Cass review, which was led by one of our country’s best paediatricians. Because of that, I am proceeding in the way that I am, which is the way that Dr Cass—now Baroness Cass—recommended. I will continue to follow the evidence and implement the Cass review comprehensively.