Kemi Badenoch has slammed the NHS and police for their “cowardice” on gender ideology.
The Women and Equalities Minister called for an in-depth review of public bodies and their policies on trans issues, stating that there needs to be “more bravery and less cancel culture”.
It comes after the Cass Review, published earlier this week by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, called for gender services for young people to match the standards of other NHS care.
The long-awaited report showed that young people with gender dysphoria are being set on a path of irreversible change despite limited medical data.
Kemi Badenoch has slammed the NHS and police for their 'cowardice' on trans issues
PA
The 388-page report said that young people with gender dysphoria have been “let down” by the NHS and made 32 recommendations on how gender services for children and young people should operate.
In her first public involvement since the report’s publication, Badenoch claimed that the NHS has been hijacked by ideologues”.
Writing in The Sunday Times, the Business Minister said: “In the case of trans ideology, those who first publicly questioned its tenets were subjected to hysterical abuse and calumny. Worse than the ravings of the militants was the cowardice of those in positions of influence.
“How many university administrators, media editors, police officers and politicians preferred to keep quiet for fear of becoming the next target or in the hope of maintaining their progressive credentials?”
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She added: “Had those who warned that gender services in the NHS had been hijacked by ideologues been listened to instead of gagged, children would not have been harmed and the Cass review would not have been required.”
Badenoch, who is seen as a frontrunner in replacing Rishi Sunak, critiqued public bodies for no longer being impartial.
She called for an in-depth review of the decision-making process throughout the public sector.
Cass’s review laid the groundwork for schools to introduce clearer guidance when dealing with trans children.
She called for parents to stop being excluded from conversations about their child’s gender identity and recommended a “follow-through service” for 17 to 25-year-olds to protect teenagers "falling off a cliff edge" in care when they hit 17.
Dr Hilary Cass's review found the NHS 'let children down' on gender servicesPAThe review has been welcomed by both Conservatives and Labour. Rishi Sunak said the Government had "acted swiftly" after the interim report in 2022 and "will continue to ensure we take the right steps to protect young people."
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting described it as “a watershed moment for the NHS's gender identity services”.
However, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins claimed last week that Labour spent years “trying to shut anyone up” who voiced concerns over trans issues.
She slammed Stirling, her opposition, to apologise for comments made in the past where he said that “trans women are women”.
An NHS spokesperson said of the report: “NHS England is very grateful to Dr Cass and her team for their comprehensive work on this important review over the past four years.
“The NHS has made significant progress towards establishing a fundamentally different gender service for children and young people, in line with earlier advice by Dr Cass and following extensive public consultation and engagement, by stopping the routine use of puberty suppressing hormones and opening the first of up to eight new regional centres delivering a different model of care.”