"Vulnerable children are wrongly being given gender hormone treatment by the NHS, Sajid Javid believes, as he prepares to launch an urgent inquiry."

"The health secretary thinks the system is 'failing children' and... is understood to have likened political sensitivities over gender dysphoria to the fears of racism in Rotherham over grooming gangs.... Javid is said to be particularly alarmed by her finding that some non-specialist staff felt 'under pressure to adopt an unquestioning affirmative approach' to transitioning and that other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' when gender was raised.... Referrals have increased 50-fold in the past decade, with far more female-born children now coming forward in a reversal of previous trends.... 'The review has already come across a number of adults that were given these life-changing drugs as children and are now saying, "Why did you do that? Because that wasn’t my problem. I was sexually abused. I was being bullied,"' a health source said.... A senior government source said Javid believes 'far too many public figures have been avoiding [gender issues] for too long' but argued: 'There is a militant lobby that doesn’t want a debate.'... Some around him say the question has been likened to concerns he raised while home secretary about the failure to tackle child exploitation by gangs of predominantly British-Pakistani men in Rotherham. The senior government source said: 'There is the same theme of not being afraid to tackle issues that others might prefer not to talk about.'"

The London Times reports.