Pathways Study: Puberty Suppression

Gregory Campbell Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

Although the hon. Gentleman comes to a different conclusion from the one that I and the Government have come to, he poses the right question when he asks what harm do we need to protect against while getting clinical evidence. If we are to be led by clinical evidence, it is important to have that evidence in a way that we can rely on, but particularly because it involves children and young people, it is incumbent on us to ensure that the level of protection against the risk of harm is exceptionally high. That is why the strengthening of the protocol announced by the MHRA last week provides that higher level of assurance that I have sought to interrogate and to ensure is there in as robust a way as possible. That gives us the confidence that those safeguards are in place as the trial proceeds.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

I agree with the Secretary of State that we should come to this subject matter with care and compassion given the age profile of the children affected. He majored on the small number of people who would take part in the trial. In fact, he said that

“we are talking about a very small subset of a very small pool.”

If that amounts to a couple of hundred people as he said, it is unlikely that there would be universality of outcome, either positive or negative, because in that size of pool there are obviously going to be mixed views. If it is a small number of people who benefit, as he believes, but a much larger number who do not, what then?

[James Murray]

The number of expected participants in the trial is 226. That is not a firm target—it does not have to be exactly that number—but that is the number at which statistically significant conclusions can be drawn. The 226 will fall into two camps: one will access the medical treatment immediately and the other will access it after one year. In that way, we will have clinical evidence from which we can draw conclusions and on which we can base future decisions. The number has been chosen so that the evidence can be relied on in the future to take decisions about whether, and if so how, to continue the use of these treatments.