WES Streeting has dramatically ditched his hardline stance on gender, admitting it was a mistake to insist all trans women are women.
The Shadow Health Secretary said he “takes criticism on the chin” for previously arguing people should “get over” concerns – admitting “there are lots of complexities.”
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Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting makes on appearance on this week’s episode of Never Mind The BallotsCredit: Darren Fletcher
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Political Editor Harry Cole grilled Wes Streeting todayCredit: Darren Fletcher
The dramatic u-turn came in the wake of what the Labour leading light branded the “scandalous” findings of the Cass Review into how the NHS has treated gender-questioning kids.
Speaking to The Sun’s politics show Never Mind the Ballots, Mr Streeting admitted the controversial LGBTQ-rights group Stonewall – where he once worked – had got it wrong.
Also on tonight’s episode of Never Mind the Ballots:
Read more on Wes Streeting
Asked if he stood by the organisations’ claim that “trans women are women, get over it”, he admitted “no”.
He added: “To the extent that – and I say this with some self criticism and reflection – if you’d asked me a few years ago, on this topic, I would have said trans men are men, trans women are women. Some people are trans, get over it. Let’s move on. This is all blown out of proportion.
I was wrong to say all trans women are women, Wes Streeting says in dramatic u-turn – and admits issue is ‘more complex’
“And now I sort of sit and reflect and think actually, there are lots of complexities.”
He went on: “I take the criticism on the chin. And at the same time, I also think that there’s been some absolutely ugly rhetoric directed towards trans people who are at the wrong end of all of statistics on hate crime, on self harm, suicide, mental health.”
The Shadow Health Secretary also insisted politicians have a “collective responsibility” to treat the debate in the same “thoughtful” and “sensitive” way Dr Hilary Cass did in her review of gender identity services.
Mea culpas don’t get more stark than Streeting’s about turn on trans
By Harry Cole, Political Editor
AS mea culpas go you do not get much more stark than Wes Streeting’s about turn on trans on this week’s edition of Never Mind the Ballots.
When I asked him whether “leading figures” like himself were part of the decades-long problem of silencing any critic of the sweeping transgender debate, he replied: “Absolutely”.
It’s not very often you get such an honest answer from a politician.Streeting was one of the first Labour MPs to actually say what his boss Sir Keir Starmer could not – that “men have penises, women have vaginas.”
But he has a notable track record of being a hardliner on this issue – long insisting “transwomen are women, get over it!”
In 2017 he backed a parliamentary attempt to hand young gender-questioning people “bridging hormones” when stuck in the ever growing queue for now discredited NHS gender treatments
As the Cass Report lays bare, the evidence of this sort of treatment was built on sand.
While his former employer Stonewall were not as hot on trans rights when Streeting worked there before becoming an MP, they have been at the forefront of illiberal attempts to shut down conversation.
His admission that the group “haven’t been open enough to the argument and to the debate” is something of an understatement”… but it’s a start.
However there will be some way to go to heal the wounds in the Labour Party – and wider society.
Take Labour MP Rosie Duffield for example, who was all but hounded out of Labour and branded a bigot for standing up for the rights of biological women.
As she said in response to the Cass Review: “As male leaders take applause, praise and credit for simply listening to an expert, and finally reading the room (the voters), where were the senior ‘sisters’?
“Perhaps less moral cowardice now? No apologies to those ‘investigated’, reprimanded, passed over, bullied, deselected.”
Streeting says he regrets his hardliner stance, but perhaps it is time for party chiefs and discredited campaigners to go one step further… and say sorry?
The landmark report, published today, found children have been let down by a lack of research and evidence on the use of puberty blockers and hormones.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun’s show Mr Streeting backed the review as he hit out at the “scandalous” way children have been treated by the NHS, adding: “I think she (Hilary Cass) has done a really important piece of work.
“But I think it does raise some serious concerns that are pretty scandalous actually.
“I think we have got to ask ourselves: why is it that we have seen medical interventions that have been given on the basis of very weak evidence?
“How is it that clinicians have been silenced or afraid to come forward?
“Why is it that a group of young people who are extremely vulnerable are waiting years to access treatment?”
Streeting isn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers
By Jack Elsom, Chief Political Correspondent
WES Streeting is no doubt one of Labour’s best salesmen – and you can bet to see much more of him this election year.
The aspiring health secretary certainly talks a good game on NHS reform, and is not afraid to ruffle some feathers in the process.
His pledge to use private sector muscle demonstrates a resolve to put pragmatism over left-wing ideology.But the real test will come if he gets into power, where he will find overhauling the NHS is like trying to turn round a giant tanker ship.An army of vested interests demanding ever more money without a willingness to change will come into conflict with his best laid plans.Mr Streeting claims Labour is in a better position to lance the boil of NHS reform than the Tories – time will tell.
And in warning to those parts of the NHS that are refusing to heed the Cass review’s findings, he said he was “pretty angry” that despite the review being commissioned, NHS trusts are refusing to cooperate.
Mr Streeting went on: “I want to send a clear message to them that under a Labour government, there will be accountability and that you’re not going to get away with it.”
Asked to confirm that if Sir Keir Starmer gets into Number 10 the evidence-free approach won’t be coming back, the Shadow Health Secretary said: “We’re going to take an evidence-led approach to this.
But he urged caution in the debate, adding: “Two things are true simultaneously. There are trans adults in this country who’ve undergone life-changing gender reassignment surgery who say that for all the pain and difficulty that involved, it wasn’t just life affirming, it was life changing.
NHS treatment of kids questioning their gender is ‘scandalous’
By Martina Bet, Political Correspondent
WES Streeting has slammed the “scandalous” way children questioning their gender have been treated by the NHS.
The Shadow Health Secretary has backed a landmark new report which found teens suffered irreversible changes based on weak evidence.
Dr Hilary Cass’s four-year review published today found children have been let down by a lack of research and evidence on the use of puberty blockers and hormones.
Mr Streeting told our Political Editor Harry Cole he backs the “thorough” and “thoughtful” report.
He added: “I think she (Hilary Cass) has done a really important piece of work.
“But I think it does raise some serious concerns that are pretty scandalous actually.
“I think we have got to ask ourselves: why is it that we have seen medical interventions that have been given on the basis of very weak evidence?
“How is it that clinicians have been silenced or afraid to come forward?
“Why is it that a group of young people who are extremely vulnerable are waiting years to access treatment?”
The Labour firebrand also said he was “pretty angry” that despite the review being commissioned, NHS trusts are refusing to cooperate.
Mr Streeting went on: “I want to send a clear message to them that under a Labour government, there will be accountability and that you’re not going to get away with it.”
“And there are also adults in this country have undergone gender reassignment who say it was a disaster, it has ruined their lives, it is irreversible now in terms of the consequences and they ask how did anyone let this happen?”
Dr Cass’s review found “the rationale was unclear” for prescribing controversial puberty blockers.
The leading paediatrician also said doctors should exercise extreme caution when giving children hormones of the opposite sex to help with their desire to transition.
Dr Cass was commissioned by ministers in 2020 to look into how the NHS should deal with the rapid rise in gender-questioning children.
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Streeting was also quizzed by Sun Cabinet’s Health minister Dr Bhasha MukherjeeCredit: Darren Fletcher
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Out Political Editor Harry Cole on tonight’s Never Mind the BallotsCredit: Darren Fletcher
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