Carys Moseley comments on Wes Streeting’s apparent double-standard on gender; was exposed on social media this week
We need to talk about Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s approach to sex and gender issues.
This may not seem like the most important thing in politics right now. Indeed there are numerous commentators who think that things have just moved on since the Cass Review, and since the government made the ban on puberty blockers indefinite. The tacit message is, move on, chill out, that was just an ‘identity politics issue’, or a women-and-children issue that’s been done to death. This self-talk allows fence-sitting when clarity is needed now more than ever.
Earlier this week, psychotherapist James Esses revealed he had obtained undercover footage of Wes Streeting appearing to contradict his public stance against puberty blockers and child gender reassignment, as well as single-sex spaces. Here is what he said on X:
Esses was given a video of 40 minutes, and has extracted the most significant material to create a two-minute clip. The Telegraph provided more extensive quotes.
‘Constrained by the clinical advice and the evidence’
Wes Streeting tells his audience, a Labour LGBT group conference, that in formulating government policy he was “constrained by the clinical advice and the evidence”. He went on to say this:
“Sometimes you have to say no to things even when it makes you feel really uncomfortable. It has not sat easily with me at all, that there are young people who’ve said, they’ve described to me how they feel about not being able to access puberty blockers or the risk of not being able to access puberty blockers in the future; this has been distressing for me to hear.”
Coming from the Health Secretary this isn’t at all acceptable. Puberty blockers are in no way a genuine medical treatment, given that puberty is not a disease or a pathological condition. It really won’t do for the Health Secretary to give the impression that clinical advice and evidence on this matter is a regrettable nuisance, a bit like the batty old aunt in the attic.
Government policy accused of preventing healthcare
According to the Telegraph, Mr Streeting was accused by a member of the audience of ‘preventing care for trans young people’, insofar as he publicly supported the puberty blocker ban. He replied by saying he met the teenager who lost a legal case against the government on this topic, to show that he empathised. Then Wes Streeting said something more disturbing:
“I thought it was quite a courageous thing for a young person of that age to do, and I felt that I owed that young person the opportunity to look me in the eye and tell me why I was wrong.”
He is saying that taking the government to court to overturn its ban on puberty blockers is ‘courageous’. Framing it this way makes challenging the ban look virtuous. In reality it is brazen, and reinforces the massive deception involved.
Government policy of banning puberty blockers is not preventing healthcare for young people who say they are transgendered. It is removing some of the obstacles to allowing it.
Tiny number of detransitioners?
Wes Streeting also claimed that only a very small number of people ‘detransition’ having undergone gender reassignment procedures. In reality, Streeting cannot prove or disprove this claim from NHS data.
Since Charing Cross Hospital Gender Identity Clinic opened in 1966, official NHS statistics have never recorded cases of people coming back for help to detransition. There has never been an official NHS protocol for helping such people. There has been a handful of psychotherapists, often in private practice, who help people who wish to return to live as members of their sexes. However there have never been official figures capturing such talking therapy.
Support for dubious clinical trial for puberty blockers
To make matters worse, Wes Streeting then said this to the audience:
“I like many of you am extremely frustrated at the slow progress of the clinical trial of puberty blockers.”
The problem here is agreeing to a clinical trial at all.
It was known over two years ago that the new ‘gender hubs’ in NHS England would be required to allow children to participate in this new research.
Last December, Baroness Merron (Labour) on behalf of the government applauded the clinical trial as ‘a world first’. She also told Parliament that the number of children participating in the clinical trial would be ‘uncapped’. This is very suspicious. It’s not hard to see that the 5,000+ children on gender hub waiting lists would be the ones invited to participate.
The reason for the delaying of the clinical trial is unknown.
Christian Concern has repeatedly opposed puberty blockers for children and teenagers, and will continue to do so.
Do single-sex spaces count for Wes Streeting?
The last bit of the leaked video has Wes Streeting responding to a question about single-sex spaces. This is what he said:
“What lots of people are hearing is this idea that ‘blokes are now having to go into women’s toilets because they were born female’. That is clearly not a scenario which is good for anyone in terms of people’s dignity, their sense of safety and their sense of belonging.”
‘Blokes’ here clearly refers to women who have undergone gender reassignment procedures, or are identifying themselves as men. Streeting said this in relation to his claim that nobody cares about ‘men’s spaces’, and that the government was still working out the practical implications of the Supreme Court ruling on sex and gender.
How should we understand Wes Streeting’s comments?
Wes Streeting’s comments have been greeted with dismay and suspicion by many people, but more pragmatically by others. James Esses thinks they betray the reality that Streeting is ‘a full-blown gender ideologue’ who has simply concealed his true colours from the public. Feminist journalist Julie Bindel however thinks Streeting is being pragmatic, using trans rhetoric to keep his audience on side, just like any politician would.
“I want Streeting to stick to his guns on this. Give him a break from what he tried to do. When he said he was bound by – or words to that effect – the evidence, he didn’t mean, ‘Were it not for the evidence, I would be handing puberty blockers out like sweeties’. That isn’t the take I have on it at all.”
Shelley Charlesworth from gender-critical organisation Transgender Trend also defended Streeting.
However, the response from the Department of Health needs to be factored in as well.
“Children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led. Based on the recommendations from the independent Cass Review, we are reforming gender services to ensure young people receive the holistic care they deserve. This involves setting up multi-disciplinary teams, including mental health support and paediatrics, within specialist children’s hospitals to provide safe, high-quality and all-round care.”
This response is telling because the Cass Review never did recommend banning puberty blockers completely, nor did it absolutely oppose ‘gender transition’ for all children. In light of this, I think we need to revisit Wes Streeting’s comments. The truth is that they fall within what is still permissible from the Cass Review. This in turn has an effect on how we see two current Christian Legal Centre cases.
The Darlington Nurses
The Darlington Nurses were told to ‘broaden their mindset’ and be more ‘inclusive’ when they protested against having to share a workplace changing room with a biological man identifying as a ‘woman’. They took legal action against the County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation, for sexual harassment and sex discrimination.
In October 2024 the Darlington nurses met with Wes Streeting where he told them that single-sex spaces matter, and that ‘something has gone wrong’ in society about this. He appeared to accept that single-sex spaces are important for women.
Jennifer Melle
Jennifer Melle is a nurse and a member of the Darlington Nursing Union. She was suspended by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in April after refusing, on grounds of her Christian beliefs, to use female pronouns for a biologically male patient who ‘identifies’ as transgender. The patient, a convicted paedophile, racially abused Jennifer during a shift, calling her the N-word multiple times and threatening to assault her while chained to two security guards. The NHS Trust concentrated on her conscientious refusal to use pronouns. Issued a final written warning, Melle was treated as a reputational risk for the NHS.
A month ago, Streeting defended Melle from racist abuse, but did not address the problem of compelled use of gender pronouns. He hid behind the fig-leaf of the legal case being ongoing, something Kemi Badenoch did not do in commenting on the case as ‘completely crazy’.
The need for cultural change
It isn’t surprising that Wes Streeting’s public and private comments cause confusion. This is because ultimately the whole history of the policies has led to this situation. The Cass Review left the door open for puberty blockers, shockingly allowing for a clinical trial. It has been evident for some time that the Cass Review has been used by gender-critical activists as well as cited by trans activists to support their positions. This shows how slippery it is at a fundamental level. In this light, the disturbing discrepancy between Wes Streeting’s public and private words sadly aren’t so surprising.
As for Streeting’s approach to single-sex spaces, it is a fact that the public debate has focused on how to make them safe. The basic moral principle that we should not lie is not prioritised. Public institutions cannot be governed in a consistent and fair manner when this is not adhered to. The entire policy culture permits, even encourages picking and choosing how truthful people can be about our created nature. A change of culture to prioritise truth and reality even above safety is needed for the debate about single-sex spaces to be a thing of the past.
