Darren Johnson, a long-standing and influential member of the Green Party of England and Wales, has officially tendered his resignation. Johnson, who served as a London Assembly Member and was formerly the Party’s Principal Speaker, cited his deep dismay over the recent statements made by Green MPs Sian Berry and Carla Denyer during last week’s parliamentary debate on the indefinite ban of puberty blockers for under 18s questioning their gender identity.
His resignation letter, shared below with his permission, details his reasons for leaving and reflects on his decades-long association with the Party.
Resignation Letter
The Green Party has been a huge part of my life since I joined back in 1987 at the age of 20. That includes 16 years serving as a London Assembly Member and 12 years as a local councillor. But I am appalled by the Green Party’s refusal to accept the findings of the Cass Review which looked at gender identity services for children and young people.
Back in April, the report by the leading paediatrician and former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr Hilary Cass, spelt out how children have been let down by a lack of research and remarkably weak evidence on medical treatments such as puberty blockers. Her report noted that these pose potential risks to “neurocognitive development, psychosexual development and longer-term bone health”. For most political parties, this acted as a huge wake-up call that things must change. But not the Green Party. Even this week, Green MPs are still acting as cheerleaders for these discredited and now banned drugs being given out to vulnerable children questioning their identity and sexuality.
The ignorant grandstanding of Green MPs over puberty blockers this week has been utterly astonishing. But even on other issues, like improving renewable energy infrastructure, the Green Party’s contribution to the debate has been blunted by its ridiculous nimbyism over things like pylons. It is therefore time for me to resign from this ludicrous organisation that has badly lost its way.
Darren Johnson