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British attorney general Suella Braverman says schools do not have to accommodate students who want to change gender identification, and are under no legal obligation to use certain pronouns or allow children to wear uniform of another sex.

“Under-18s cannot get a gender recognition certificate, under-18s cannot legally change sex,” she told the newspaper on May 28.

“So again in the context of schools I think it’s even clearer actually. A male child who says in a school that they are a trans girl, that they want to be female, is legally still a boy or a male.”

“They [Schools] don’t have to say ‘OK, we’re going to let you change your pronoun or let you wear a skirt or call yourself a girl’s name,'” she said.

Last month, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi criticised a school after reports that a pupil had been hounded out for asserting that sex was biologically determined.

He also, however, suggested that schools should “accommodate” pupils with gender dysphoria, for example allowing them to use the lavatories with a gender of their preference.

She said young people’s wish to change gender appears to be influenced by their peers.

“Some parts of the country there are very low rates of children presenting as transgender, in some parts of the country it’s quite worryingly high. That must be to do with the way teachers and local education authorities are approaching this subject."

“Medical professionals, teachers should be taking a much firmer line. They shouldn’t take an unquestioning approach, they shouldn’t just take what the child says.”

That position echoes statements by British Health Secretary Sajid Javid last month. He described the way the nation’s health care system currently handles cases of children with gender dysphoria as “bordering on ideological.”

Responding to a question, Javid told MPs that he shared concerns about the NHS insisting on children’s perception of their own gender as a starting point for treatment, describing the approach as “overly affirmative.”

...Javid wrote on Twitter: “Facts matter. Respectful debate matters.”

“Biological sex matters—ask any doctor or nurse. Facts matter. Respectful debate matters. This growing culture of shutting people down is deeply disturbing and must be challenged,” he added.