UUP defends puberty blocker trial for 'very small number' of children - saying it was necessary to secure a ban on the drugs
The Ulster Unionist Party has backed Mike Nesbitt over plans to include Northern Irish children in a controversial national trial of puberty blocker drugs – despite its new leader Jon Burrows having publicly opposed medical interventions in the past.
On his first day as an MLA, Jon Burrows made clear that he did not support pharmaceutical interventions in children questioning their gender – but did say NI services should be in line with the national Cass Review findings.
This week, the Department of Health (DoH) published a review into local gender services, which praised aspects of the approach here in contrast with the historic situation in England.
It also made clear that “rigorous and demanding” changes are being made by the health service to meet a commitment – supported by minister Mr Nesbitt – to be part of a puberty blocker trial and wider research in the area.
It is understood that there is opposition within the UUP team at Stormont to the trial, opposition which has been publicly expressed by some MLAs in recent months.
But the party has said that it faced a choice between “a very, very small number of local people participating in the UK trial”, or Mike Nesbitt’s being unable to secure an indefinite ban on prescription of the drugs in 2024.
The health minister had faced resistance in extending a national ban on their sale and prescription to NI, but Alliance and Sinn Fein accepted it on the basis there would be future research and trials – a key recommendation of the original Cass Review.
The News Letter asked the UUP if its leader supports the approach being taken by Mr Nesbitt on the puberty blockers trial – and whether Mr Burrows has changed his position on medical interventions.
A spokesperson said: “Dr Cass made it clear in her UK-wide report in 2024 that the evidential basis for puberty blockers was poor. In doing so, she also called for the commencement of a targeted clinical trial.
“Northern Ireland’s participation in the UK-wide trial was fully considered and endorsed by the Northern Ireland Executive over a series of discussions and executive meetings in late 2024. This was a position supported by the DUP.
“It is a matter of fact that Northern Ireland’s agreement to participate in the trial was central to Mike Nesbitt’s ability to secure the wider introduction of an indefinite ban on the sale and supply of puberty blockers here. The choice was between a very, very small number of local people participating in the UK trial and Northern Ireland not joining the indefinite ban and becoming a back door for the rest of the UK to access puberty blockers.”
A DUP spokesperson said the party categorically rejects the assertion that its ministers endorsed the clinical trials brought to the Executive by Mr Nesbitt – saying that they oppose any medical interventions for under 18s.
In response to recent DUP criticism of their minister, the UUP questioned whether their rivals are now saying they would have preferred Northern Ireland not being part of the UK ban.
“The Ulster Unionist Party welcomes this latest report from Dr Cass – the undoubted pre-eminent expert in the UK on this issue – in which she has entirely endorsed the position adopted by Mike Nesbitt.
“It was the UUP that secured the ban on puberty blockers, and it was the UUP that brought Northern Ireland in line with the protections for our young people that existed in all other regions across GB.
“We will take no lessons from the DUP, who frankly have more to account for on this important issue than any political party in Northern Ireland,” a spokesperson said.
Asked in August about a row over Mr Nesbitt funding a gender service with no lower age limit on referrals, Mr Burrows told the News Letter: “I think there needs to be real clarity as to what the service entails, what the boundaries are for it. We need to know more about the nuts and bolts of it, and ensure that everything we do is consistent with the Cass review findings.
“I think that’s critical, and we cannot relax the position that medical interventions for children are entirely inappropriate, certainly pharmaceutical ones,” the UUP MLA said.
In December, the party’s health spokesperson rowed back from comments in which he said he was “fully supportive” of a campaign against a trial of puberty blocker drugs.
Alan Chambers later said that while he is “uncomfortable with elements of the clinical trial” it was a recommendation of the 2024 Cass Review of NHS gender identity services, which his party “fully supported”.