Dr Paul Behrens

Rishi Sunak promised a lot when the general election was announced. One of his plans concern the ongoing, divisive debate about transgender people. Here, the Conservatives wanted to remove the 'confusion' which, they felt, dominates the discussion. But if you thought their manifesto would take the heat away, you were in for a disappointment. Young people who question their gender, it says, will be 'protected' from 'ideologically driven care'. And it promises that 'the contested concept of gender identity is not taught to children' (which sounds like section 28, the Thatcher law that banned the discussion of homosexuality in schools). How phrases like these will settle anything, is anybody's guess.

CONVERSION practices – and the intended law against them – keep making headlines. The expert advisory group on the matter (of which I was a member) recently issued its report, the Scottish Parliament has taken evidence on it, and in Holyrood, all parties support a law against these practices.

NONE of the so-called great powers leaves Afghanistan smelling of roses. Not Russia, whose ambassador praised the Taliban for their 'positive and businesslike' approach. Not the United States, who decided that now is a good time to abandon the country. Not the United Kingdom, whose Foreign Secretary was taken aback by the speed of the Taliban takeover. (In Mr Raab's case, that's progress. The kind of thing that used to surprise him was that Dover is important for British trade).