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Brian WheelerPolitical reporter
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has rejected calls to stop a trial of puberty blocking drugs for gender-questioning children.
Streeting permanently banned the prescribing of puberty blockers to under-18s last year.
He told MPs he was "uncomfortable" about such drugs being used on young people but said he had given the go-ahead to a clinical trial as recommended by the Cass Review into children's gender care, because it was the "right thing to do".
Conservative shadow health minister Dr Caroline Johnson, a consultant paediatrician who said she had looked after children with gender dysphoria, asked why the government was funding experiments on "physically healthy children" when Streeting himself had said he was "uncomfortable" about the use of these drugs.
Streeting replied: "The reason why, whatever my discomfort in this extremely sensitive area, I have made this decision is because I am following clinical advice and because, as health secretary, it is my responsibility to follow expert advice."
He added: "Am I uncomfortable about puberty-suppressing hormones for this group of young people, for these particular conditions? Yes, I am, because of risks."
But he said he had also been "uncomfortable" when he introduced a permanent ban "because I had to look children and young people in the eye, and their parents, who told me in no uncertain terms that that decision was harmful to them".
Puberty blockers are drugs used to delay or prevent puberty happening.
The drugs are not prescribed on the NHS to children for the treatment of gender dysphoria outside clinical trials, with the agreement of devolved governments across the UK.
But a trial was recommended by the Cass Review, which concluded that the quality of research claiming to show the benefits of puberty blockers for youngsters with gender dysphoria was "poor".
The PATHWAYS trial, which is due to start in January, will involve children who are being seen at gender clinics in England. The research team says their physical and mental health will be closely monitored and there will be a careful consent process involving both children and their parents. Researchers say they will also monitor bone density and brain development.
Objections to the trial include concerns about the potential impact on brain development, fertility and bone density, and the ability of young children to consent.
Streeting told MPs he had backed the trial because it had been recommended by Dr Cass in her review, which had been commissioned by his Conservative predecessor Sir Sajid Javid.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has joined those calling for the trial, which will involve around 226 people aged between 10 and almost 16, to be stopped to prevent harm to children.
Dr Johnson, who branded it "Streeting's trial", told MPs: "The vast majority of the children in this trial are being unnecessarily experimented on with risky medications under his leadership."
Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill, a former children's services manager, urged Streeting to meet clinicians and academics amid fears "credible safeguarding warnings... are not actually being heard".
Streeting said he was "absolutely open to receiving representations and evidence from clinicians involved in the care of children and young people", including his critics.
Some Labour MPs said that it was important young trans people's health needs were met.
Labour MP Danny Beales said: "We know that young people are seeking out provision. They are seeking out unregulated providers of these drugs. Therefore a clinical trial is appropriate and the best and safest way of managing any potential risks."
Streeting later told MPs: "The parents of trans young people love their children very much, and that has been at the heart of so many of the representations that I have received from parents as well as young people."
Earlier on Wednesday, Streeting told the health and social care select committee the decision to go ahead with the trial was "one that I wrestle with on a daily basis".
He stressed that no child will be able to take part in the clinical trial without parental consent.
