Well, well, well. It now transpires that the Scottish government will follow Westminster’s lead on the UK puberty blocker ban – after Health Secretary Wes Streeting told parliament that he would be extending the policy following the findings from Baroness Cass’s review. How very interesting…
On Wednesday, the Health Secretary told MPs that the way the medications had been used was a ‘scandal’, adding he would continue on the medication block introduced by the Tories in May, noting:
I know it won’t feel like it based on the decisions I’m taking today, but I really do care about this and so does this government. I am determined to improve the quality of care and access to healthcare for all trans people.
And the devolved nations will be following suit, with the SNP government confirming that Scotland would also enforce the ban – given medicines policy is reserved to Westminster.
Not that everyone was initially happy about the disruption to gender services. Mr S would advise readers to cast their minds back to earlier this year when SNP ministers were accused of stalling in their response to a review of gender services while a member of their then-coalition partners, Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens, refused to accept the Cass report as a valid scientific document in May. Meanwhile former first minister Humza Yousaf said in April this year about Scotland’s gender clinic: ‘I don’t believe that there’s a case to close the Sandyford.’ How the tables turn, eh?
Comments