Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans said some parents and medical staff were too quick to diagnose children confused about their gender as being trapped in the wrong body. She has been sacked over her comments

The Women’s Equality Party has sacked one of its most senior officials after she raised concerns about adults labelling children as transgender.

Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans said on BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze programme that some parents and medical staff were now too quick to diagnose children confused about their gender as being trapped in the wrong body.

The Mail on Sunday understands that the party received several complaints about the academic’s comments on the programme, including one from a man who identifies as a woman.

The party, co-founded by comedian Sandi Toksvig, last week dismissed Dr Brunskell-Evans from her position as its spokeswoman for violence against women and girls.

Last night the university lecturer, a senior fellow at Kings College London, said she felt ‘betrayed’ by the party over her dismissal – and has quit the party.

She added: ‘I am a woman, I’ve worked for women all my life and one trans woman made a complaint about something which I think was a reasonable statement to make.

‘When I first joined the Women’s Equality Party, I thought it was going to be revolutionary and that we would all be free of gender because it is a restrictive, socially constructed concept.

'But now the party is acting as if biology is a social invention and gender is inherent in a person from birth.

‘I didn’t sign up to that. I feel betrayed.’

The Women's Equality Party was co-founded by comedian Sandi Toksvig (left with party leader Sophie Walker, centre, and co-founder Catherine Mayer)

She was backed by veteran feminist Julie Bindel, who condemned the party for ‘bowing to pressure from the trans lobby’ in sacking Dr Brunskell-Evans.

She said: ‘Of course transphobia or any form of prejudice should never be tolerated.

‘But this is another example of “Trans Taliban” hardliners silencing free speech and attempting to take control of an institution that was set up for the benefit of women – not men who say they are women.

‘To penalise a party member for speaking out against the medical transition of children is nothing short of a disgrace.’

The concerns aired by Dr Brunskell-Evans on the Radio 4 show in November came after The Mail on Sunday revealed that 800 young people in Britain, including children aged ten, were now on drugs that halt the onset of puberty.

The powerful hormone injections – known as puberty-blockers – stop the development of sex organs, breasts and body hair, making it easier for doctors to carry out sex-change surgery later.

Doctors who prescribe the drugs say the effects are fully reversible if patients stop taking them.

But some medical experts have raised worries about the long-term impact of the blockers on bone health.

Dr Brunskell-Evans’s dismissal is the latest battle in a war raging between transgender hardliners and feminist campaigners they describe as Terfs – or Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists.

A decision by the City of London Corporation in December to allow men who identify as women to use Hampstead Ladies’ Pond (above) caused an outcry among female bathers

The feminists have repeatedly clashed with trans activists over the issue of those men who ‘self-identify’ as female being allowed in women-only spaces and taking on roles reserved for women.

In September last year the two factions came to blows at a demonstration at Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park.

During the clash, a 60-year-old woman was punched in the face.

Anger was sparked among feminists again when a 19-year-old transgender woman, Lily Madigan, who was born male, was elected as the women’s officer for her local Labour party.

Their outrage was fuelled further when Labour announced plans to open up female-only parliamentary shortlists to ‘self-identifying’ transgender women.

At the same time it emerged that trans activists had drawn up a secret hit-list of Labour members accused of transphobia, many of whom were feminist women.

Meanwhile, a decision by the City of London Corporation in December to allow men who identify as women to use Hampstead Ladies’ Pond caused an outcry among female bathers.

During her appearance on the Moral Maze to discuss ‘defining gender’, Dr Brunskell-Evans agreed that children should be allowed to experiment with their identity.

But she warned against young people who do not conform to traditional gender roles being told ‘something is not quite right’ with their bodies and that they are really the opposite sex.

Last night a spokesman for the Women’s Equality Party – founded in 2015 by Ms Toksvig and journalist Catherine Mayer with the aim of promoting equal treatment for women in everything from education to employment – said the organisation was ‘sorry to learn’ that Dr Brunskell-Evans had resigned her membership.

He added: ‘This has been a difficult experience for all involved. However, it is essential that when complaints are made they are taken seriously and dealt with fairly and thoroughly, as the constitution approved by members sets out.’