Andrew Gregory:

Puberty blockers for under-18s with gender dysphoria will be banned indefinitely across the UK except for use in clinical trials, Labour has announced.

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said that after receiving advice from medical experts, he would make existing emergency measures banning the sale and supply of puberty blockers indefinite.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) had published independent expert advice that there was “currently an unacceptable safety risk in the continued prescription of puberty blockers to children”.

Streeting said the commission had recommended indefinite restrictions while work is done to ensure the safety of children and young people.

The NHS announced in March that children would no longer be prescribed puberty blockersat gender identity clinics, with the then Conservative government saying this would help ensure care was based on evidence and was in the “best interests of the child”.