Given the general level of toxicity around the trans/identity/gender debate, the fact that the report from Dr Hillary Cass strikes a note of calm authority is something of a minor miracle.

Unsurprisingly, given that she and colleagues at York University spent many years trying to understand and define what has been going on in these so-called culture wars, it runs to just short of 400 pages, and meticulously records interviews with just about everybody concerned.

(Bar those institutions who declined to unveil their methodology to her and her team.)

The shorthand version of her conclusions is that it is wrong to hand confused adolescents puberty blockers without any long-term evidence as to the likely effects.

In addition to which, she considers that many children and young people, “for that is what they are”, may actually suffer from undiagnosed autism or other forms of neurodivergence, rather than gender dysphoria.

They may, she suggests, also have problems with anxiety and depression, and are not suitable for the puberty blocking medical pathway used.

Or maybe they’re gay!

The Tavistock Clinic in London is now closed down, and there is a debate over the future of the similar Sandyford Clinic in Scotland. Perhaps it’s significant that the latter has still to find a clinical head, despite a very tasty salary and a five month search.

What we do know is that of the young people who went through the Gender Development Identity Service, according to a report published 20-plus years ago, more than a quarter had been in care, and almost half lived with only one parent. Almost four in 10 were in families with physical or mental health problems.

I readily confess to not being a neutral in this matter, being what has been labelled 'gender critical'. Which means we believe that while you can choose your gender, you can’t choose your natal sex.

The term used by trans activists for women born women is “cis”. It apparently stems from a Latin term for “on this side of” as opposed to trans “on the other side of”.

Trans women are not women, in my book, they are trans women. Deserving of respect and tolerance, entitled to live their lives free from prejudice and discrimination, but, nevertheless, born male.

As Professor Robert Winston, the celebrated biologist, once noted: "Your original sex is present in every cell of your body.”

Will Dr Cass’s work be the last word on the subject? Don’t bet on it!