Boris Johnson has defended his decision to scrap plans to ban conversion therapy for transgender people, but not gay people.

The move created outrage among some charities and campaigners, prompting the boycott of the UK’s first international LGBT+ conference.

More than 100 organisations pulled out of attending the ‘Safe to be Me’ event, forcing the government to scrap it altogether.

Yesterday an LGBT adviser to the UK Government announced he was quitting his role, accusing ministers of trying to drive a wedge between gay and transgender people.

The Prime Minister has defended the decision to allow conversion therapy to continue for transgender people, but not for gay people, during a visit to a hospital today.

Speaking to journalists at a site in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, Mr Johnson said: "We will have a ban on gay conversion therapy, which to me is utterly abhorrent."

"But there are complexities and sensitivities when you move from the area of sexuality to the question of gender," he said, adding: "There are things that I think still need to be worked out."

"I'm sorry we haven't been able to reach agreement with the organisations concerned but that will in no way diminish our determination to tackle prejudice wherever we can."

He said the move did not “diminish our determination to tackle prejudice wherever we can”, but later acknowledged the issue was not one he had thought much about.

He appeared to conflate the issue of parental consent with conversion therapy, when he said: "I don’t think that it’s reasonable for kids to be deemed so-called Gillick-competent to take decisions about their gender or irreversible treatments that they may have. I think there should be parental involvement at the very least.”

‘Gillick-competent is a legal medical term which decides whether a child is able to consent to treatment, including changing gender.

While hormone treatment and puberty blockers are medical processes used when someone wants to begin the process of transitioning from one gender to another, it is not related to conversion therapy.

Conversion therapy can involve harmful psychological exercises which essentially attempt to stop someone from believing they are transgender. It has also been used in an attempt to turn gay people ‘straight’, with many people who have received it citing long-lasting psychological damage.

Asked more about his views on transgender people and thew conversion therapy decision, Mr Johnson said “biological males” should not be competing in women’s sports and that hospitals, prisons and changing rooms should have spaces “dedicated to women”.

He added: “That’s as far as my thinking has developed on this issue. If that puts me in conflict with some others, then we have got to work it all out.”

He also said he was learning about what he described as “novel concepts”, adding: “This is something that, frankly for people like me, it wasn’t something I thought I would have to consider in great detail.”

The Prime Minister then appeared to wade further into the transgender row, by offering "a few points". 

He said he did not believe "that biological males should be competing in females sporting events" adding: "Maybe that's a controversial thing to say but it just seems to me to be sensible."

He continued: "And I also happen to think that women should have spaces, whether it's in hospital or prisons or change rooms, or wherever, which are dedicated to women."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Government of "distraction tactics" and "flip flopping". He said Labour would ban conversion therapy "in all its forms".

LGBT charity Stonewall said the Prime Minister's comments were "ill-informed".

A spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister’s remarks are uninformed and out of step with medical and scientific consensus. Nearly every major healthcare body – including the British Medical Association– recognises the lifelong damage that conversion therapy causes trans people, and supports a trans-inclusive ban.

"Trans people are nearly twice as likely to be targeted by conversion practices and any ban that is not trans-inclusive abandons some of those that are most at risk.

"After four years of delay, in which LGBTQIA+ people across the UK have continued to suffer as a consequence of conversion practices, it is devastating that the UK Government is breaking its promise to implement an inclusive ban that protects all our communities from abuse.

"Countries around the world are acting to ban this homophobic, biphobic and transphobic abuse, and it is shameful that the UK Government is choosing which LGBTQIA+ people deserve protection.

"The Prime Minister rightly stated that the trans community deserve our support but that needs to be backed up by meaningful action.

"We call on the UK Government to listen to healthcare experts and protect trans people from abusive conversion practices."