Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at women's rights group Sex Matters, said: "It is very worrying that a medical college has taken such an ignorant and biased position.

"Parents should routinely be informed of anything substantive concerning their children, unless there are specific concerns that go beyond parents' rejection of trans ideology.

The statement also reveals a remarkable blindness to what safeguarding means for other children - in particular girls, whose human rights are breached if they are forced to share private spaces with trans-identifying boys.

"Defending the use of preferred pronouns for primary-aged children ignores the dangers of social transition and what experts describe as the 'school-to-clinic pipeline'."