BMA accused of witch-hunt after transgender care leak

The British Medical Association has been accused of undertaking a "witch-hunt" to try to identify which senior figure leaked that it was set to oppose the landmark Cass review on transgender healthcare.

- Denis Campbell

It has warned its ruling council's 69 members that whoever tipped off the media about its controversial stance should own up or face their non-cooperation being seen as "an act of dishonesty". Critics say its action is "disgraceful", "Orwellian" and "witch-hunt-like".

The BMA has been heavily criticised by key medical figures since it voted on 17 July to in effect reject Dr Hilary Cass's report.

It is the only medical organisation in the UK to not accept and to find fault with her findings, which were accepted by the last government and its Labour successor. The union has been in turmoil ever since. Its dismissal of the report as "unsubstantiated" has led to a serious split, resignations and huge tension within the body, which represents about 195,000 doctors - a large majority of the UK medical profession.

The New Statesman revealed on 16 July that the BMA's council was going to discuss a motion recommending that the union "disavow" the Cass review when it met the next day. That disclosure led to the motion being reworded, with the new version no longer using the word "disavow" and instead committing the BMA to "publicly critique" the findings.