Children being ‘used as guinea pigs’ in puberty blockers experiment
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 23 Jan 2026
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is allowing a trial of puberty blockers for children to go ahead despite confessing to being “uncomfortable” about the risks involved and receiving strong and widespread opposition.
The Pathways trial, recommended by the Cass Review (which examined NHS gender identity services for children and young people) was set to start in January. Concerns regarding the impact of the drugs include issues related to brain development, fertility, and bone density, as well as the subject of whether young children are capable of giving consent.
NHS trust 'violated dignity' of Darlington nurses
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 16 Jan 2026
A group of Darlington nurses had their dignity "violated" by an NHS trust, a tribunal said today.
Newcastle Employment Tribunal said that "complaints of indirect sex discrimination" against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust "are well founded and succeed" after the nurses were required to share a female-only changing room with a biological male who identifies as a woman.
Seven-year Bernard Randall case ends in settlement
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 9 Jul 2026
Evangelicals are celebrating after it was today announced that Church of England (CofE) chaplain Bernard Randall's seven-year ordeal has reached a settlement.
In 2019, Randall was referred to Prevent (the UK's counter-radicalisation programme, part of the Government's wider counterterrorism strategy), treated as a safeguarding risk, and effectively shut out of ministry for preaching a sermon rooted in CofE doctrine.
'Detrans' clinic planned
Luke Randall
Date posted: 30 Jun 2026
A detransition clinic is set to open in Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston following a settlement with the Texas Attorney General, making it the first initiative of its kind in the USA.
The service will exist to help correct transition care administered by doctors at the hospital, enabling children to undergo corrective surgery to return to their gender assigned at birth after they were wrongly treated at the pro-trans facility, potentially signifying a “cultural shift away from radical gender ideology”.
Scotland & Wales: Dr Q & LGBTQI+ pose challenges
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 21 May 2026
Scotland and Wales have elected their newest parliamentary representatives, which could pose some concerns for evangelical Christians in each country, says The Christian Institute.
Scotland saw the Scottish National Party (SNP) get the most votes for the fifth time, along with the most seats in parliament, although less than the last election. Labour and Reform UK came in joint second, with Reform making strides since the last election and winning its first seats in Holyrood.
Q’s conversion ban bid
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 29 Jun 2026
Q Manivannan, one of the first transgender MSPs to be elected to the Scottish Parliament, has put forward a motion in Holyrood calling for a ban on “conversion practices”.
“Legislation in this area is not about outlawing genuine abuse – since that is already illegal,” said Joanna Timm, Senior Public Affairs Office at the Christian Institute.
Sex, gender & sport: Clarity and compassion
Jonny Reid
Date posted: 7 Apr 2026
In a landmark decision the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Olympic women’s sport will be limited to biological females.
It follows nearly 20 years of debate since the rise of athletes with DSD (differences in sexual development) winning World and Olympic medals. There will now be a one-off sex test, which will prevent any athletes with a Y chromosome, including transgender women and DSD athletes, except in extremely rare cases where they do not benefit from the performance-enhancing effects of testosterone, from competing in women’s categories. This slightly wordy description shows us some of the complexities in this case that we sometimes miss.
Top scientist axed over gender views
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 24 Mar 2026
A top scientific officer whose concerns about puberty blockers led to the pausing of a national trial has now been removed from involvement with it due to concerns about his “gender-critical” views.
Professor Jacob George was appointed as the first Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) late last year.
The road to Canterbury
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 19 Mar 2026
Book Review
With the appointment of a new primate in Canterbury, two books are being published, both with the new Archbishop’s face on the cover.
Read review
news in brief
‘Turn the Battle’
A number of Christian organisations in the UK have been seeking to mobilise people to pray and fast for three days.
The “Turn the Battle” campaign has been aiming to see “the whole body humbling itself under God’s mighty hand and a committing to three days of contending prayer and fasting” from 21 to 23 January.
Puberty blockers trial challenged
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 22 Feb 2026
A group of concerned parties are pursuing legal proceedings in the High Court to stop a trial of puberty blockers for children from going ahead.
The trial, which is costing the taxpayer £11 million, should never have been approved and comprises government-funded experimentation on young children, the claimants say.
news in brief
400 women gather
The Norfolk Gospel Partnership Women’s Conference 2026 saw 400 women from across the region gather together for a day of worship, inspirational Bible teaching and encouragement.
Women from more than 75 different churches attended and this year’s theme was “Greater – running the race because of Jesus”. The speaker was Lizzy Smallwood.
Analysis: Zohran Mamdani – Islam’s smiling NY face
en staff
Date posted: 3 Jan 2026
Who is Zohran Mamdani, the political outsider who has just become Mayor of New York? And should evangelicals be relaxed, concerned, or even alarmed?
Plenty of people have indeed expressed worry. Mike Johnson, the evangelical Southern Baptist speaker of the House of Representatives, described his victory as “without a doubt the biggest win for socialism in the history of the country, and it is the biggest loss for the American people.”
'Unacceptably broad' – new conversion practices definition
The Government has finally published its long-promised Conversion Practices Bill. Ministers describe the draft legislation as "balanced and targeted" and insist that it is not intended to interfere with religious belief and expression. Yet a careful reading of the bill raises a different question: if existing laws already prohibit abuse, why is this legislation needed at all?
Is new legislation really necessary?
Before considering the detail of the bill, Parliament should ask the same question that should have been answered during the conversion therapy debates of 2021: What evidence demonstrates that new criminal offences are needed?