The clinic at the heart of a heated national debate formally closes this weekend. The journalist who told the inside story of its practice reflects on those it leaves behind

It was a report in this newspaper that sparked my real interest in Gids – that made me ask “what’s going on?”. It was November 2018 and the article, by Jamie Doward, revealed that the Gender Identity Development Service, to use its full title, was undertaking a review. The details were scarce, but a senior member of staff had claimed that the service was “failing to examine fully the psychological and social reasons behind young people’s desire to change gender”.

In the week that Gids’s 35-year history has finally ended , I’ve been thinking about that time. How it set the scene of what would unfold over the next few years, and how things could have been so different. What if NHS England had acted when it saw a report of those concerns? It didn’t, and the service remained open for another six years. A service which referred children for puberty-blocking drugs, without robust data to support that this was beneficial, and that shut down the concerns of a growing number of its own staff.

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Outcome hangs in the balance partly because new system requires voter ID, he warns shadow cabinet

Sadiq Khan told the Labour shadow cabinet this week that his re-election as London mayor “hangs in the balance” despite polls showing he is about 25 points ahead of his Conservative rival, Susan Hall.

The London mayor told Keir Starmer’s team that he was “under no illusions” he could lose against Hall in spite of his commanding lead, partly because the voting system has changed and new rules to require voter ID.

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Actor speaks for first time about how 10-year-old’s death in 2000 spurred him and others to ‘aim further’

The actor John Boyega has spoken for the first time of the “life-changing” impact of his friendship with Damilola Taylor and the way his sudden death spurred him and others to “aim further”.

Boyega, 32, best known for his work in the Star Wars franchise, was school friends with Damilola growing up in south-east London. Damilola was 10 when he was stabbed in the leg with a broken bottle walking home from a computer class in Peckham in November 2000.

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A group of men at the club who hope the male-only rule will change have nominated a set of possible new members

Seven women with leading positions in the British establishment have been nominated as prospective female members of the Garrick in the event that the club agrees to change its rules so that women are able to join.

The classicist Mary Beard, the former home secretary Amber Rudd, Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman and the new Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika are among the first names to have been put forward to the club as possible future members.

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After overseeing a transformation of the National Portrait Gallery he will need to draw on that experience in his new role

• British Museum appoints new director after alleged thefts scandal

Nicholas Cullinan, who has been appointed as the new director of the British Museum, was seen as the favourite for the job due to his reputation in the art world as an energetic leader.

As the director of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) since 2015, the 46-year-old art historian and curator oversaw the most ambitious redevelopment in the institution’s history, a £41.3m refurbishment and rehang of its collection .

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Former actor and Reclaim party candidate will have his fee and deposit returned after mistakes

The former actor Laurence Fox will not be a candidate at the London mayoral elections after failing to fill in the nomination forms correctly.

London Elects, which administers the mayoral and London Assembly elections, said the Reclaim Party leader had submitted the papers shortly before the deadline on Wednesday, which were subsequently found to contain errors.

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Nicholas Cullinan, head of National Portrait Gallery, replaces Hartwig Fischer who resigned over disappearance of 1,500 items

The British Museum has appointed the National Portrait Gallery head Nicholas Cullinan as its new director, after it emerged last year that hundreds of objects had been allegedly stolen from the museum’s collection .

He replaces the interim director Sir Mark Jones, the former head of the Victoria and Albert Museum, who stood in for former director Hartwig Fischer. Fischer resigned last year over the scandal.

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Police searching for suspect after incident at Beckenham Junction that left man with life-threatening injuries

Police are searching for a suspect after a man was stabbed on a train in south London and left with life-threatening injuries.

British Transport Police (BTP) said they received reports of two men fighting while entering a train at Shortlands railway station in Bromley shortly before 4pm on Wednesday.

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On 5 Live’s 30th birthday, Heidi Dawson says more of the BBC should be based outside London to reflect the national conversation

More of the BBC needs to be based outside London to reflect the “conversation of the nation” and secure its future, according to the controller of BBC Radio 5 Live.

As the station celebrates its 30th birthday on Thursday, with a series of shows and tributes, Heidi Dawson says 5 Live is well placed to see off the multiple headwinds buffeting its HQ in London, including a further £200m in annual cuts announced by the BBC’s director general this week.

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