SCOTTISH Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has said that the country should do its own version of the Cass review on gender services, reported The Times.
Sarwar encouraged the Scottish government to detail its reaction to the report concerning the care of children experiencing gender confusion in England.
According to him, a strategy guided by clinicians was the appropriate course of action, particularly with growing concerns regarding the care provided to young patients at Scotland's Sandyford gender clinic.
The Cass Review was commissioned by the NHS in 2020, after the service saw increasing numbers of young people seeking gender care and differing opinions among experts about how best to help them.
The study, led by prominent pediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, said that medical evidence underlying gender care for adolescents is “remarkably weak” and provides little clarity on long-term outcome.
The report concluded that young people with gender dysphoria - the distress of identifying as a gender different from the one assigned at birth - deserve better care but stresses that there is a lack of good evidence about how best to provide that.
Scottish Labour already voted for a bill called the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. This bill would let people change their gender on their own and let younger people transition when they're 16 instead of 18.
Some people want the Sandyford clinic in Scotland to close because of the Cass report. But Sarwar thinks that wouldn't be fair without checking things out first.
He said that if there are problems with specific services, they should be looked into. But he thinks the Scottish government needs to quickly figure out what they're going to do about the recommendations from the Cass review.
The Sandyford clinic in Glasgow has been trying to find a doctor to run it for five months but hasn't found one yet. The job was posted in November with a good salary, but they still haven't found the right person.
The Scottish government has said it will consider the findings of the Cass review. However, ministers have not committed to implementing its findings.
Dr Jenny Cunningham, who worked as a paediatrician in Glasgow for three decades, said that the Cass report's findings about how gender-confused kids are treated in England also apply to Scotland.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)