" Pathways was initially included in her portfolio, having previously fallen within Dr Ahmed’s brief.
It is understood that Ms Kaur Gill was preparing to raise concerns about Pathways with officials at the start of last month. At the time, the trial, which had been commissioned following the Cass review to gather data on the side effects of puberty blockers, was on hold over safety concerns.
However, she appears to have been sidelined, and by the time the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced on June 19 that Pathways could proceed with minimum age limits introduced, responsibility for the trial had passed to Baroness Merron, the minister for women’s health and mental health.
Three days later, Mr Murray told the Commons that, while he felt “discomfort and unease” at the prospect of trialling children as young as 11 on puberty-suppressing drugs, he thought “proceeding with the trial is, on balance, the most appropriate way forward”.
One Whitehall source told The Telegraph: “If this trial had stayed the responsibility of Preet Gill, she would have rightly cancelled it, at least until the child victims of the appalling Tavistock scandal had been tracked down to find out how badly damaged they are.
“Instead, in an increasingly desperate attempt to go ahead with this shocking trial, it has been taken away from her.”
Another source accused the Health Secretary of ignoring concerns not only from Ms Kaur Gill, but also from two other female health ministers said to have reservations about medicalising gender-questioning children."
archived 4 Jul 2026 20:15:21 UTC
archive.ph