Secretary of State for Scotland looking at using Westminster powers to overule gender recognition bill

Which may well backfire on her if Scots say "if they're going to introduce this, then I want Westminster to be in charge.

I think this is good but it does seem to miss the other thing which is the international element of S35. I'm sure this Bill will interfere with data collection (on sex) that the UK needs, to demonstrate what we've done for CEDAW.

Thanks for that link @FannyCann Ive sent it to my MP (SNP so I will get precisely nowhere, but at least she knows people are watching) and have also emailed my support to Alister Jack (now there’s 6 words I never thought I would say!)

Agree @HopRockers I think Westminster really have to spell out exactly what this means for women and girls here in Scotland though - I think there are still too many (esp SNP voters) who haven’t fully grasped its ramifications.

Sorry if it's been posted before but there's a link here from Yorkshire Women's Rights Network with a brief letter to send to your MP. I personalised mine and added a bit more. It is very quick to do.

twitter.com/wrnyorkshire/status/1608558599659491328?s=21

Deeds not words.

By their deeds shall ye know them.

Yes I think she thought

• deal with the greens
• show how different Scotland is
• set up a fight with Westminster

At no point did "feminist to her fingertips" consider actual women

Oh probably, she’s like a stuck record. I think she’s played the wrong card here though - so many people are against this legislation that she’s going to have difficulty arguing why Westminster shouldn’t step in.

I think Westminster interference is exactly what Sturgeon wants. She can then use it as an example of how England controls Scotland etc etc.

I wonder if he's just far enough outside the bubble to see that Westminster "interference" will be broadly welcomed on this issue & therefore damage the Indie case.
Or maybe he's just one of the (very) few with integrity?

Good for Angus MacNeill. He’s right, of course, and this should be sorted out in Scotland - but the SNP don’t seem inclined to thus far

He's right. It's the loophole this has created that's the issue. If anyone, anyone at all, can get a GRC now simply by paying a fiver and dib dib dibbing a stupid promise, there is absolutely no safeguarding whatsoever.

Women and children will be hurt by this legislation.
Trans people will be hurt when the legislation is proved, by injury or death to those women and children, to cause harm by abuse, and they (trans people) will bear the blame.

Seriously, it's all about men, isn't it? MSPs who voted for this ( I have a list) should be held legally responsible for the potential hell they've allowed to be unleashed.

Good to hear someone else in the SNP speaking up.

SNP MP:

"Now Western Isles MP Angus MacNeill_ has deepened the SNP civil war on the deeply contentious issue by calling for law to be scrapped.

"This is not about trans people, it is about people who could possibly masquerade as trans people and invade women's safe spaces, who are known as bad faith actors," he said. "I cannot support that.
"Trans people deserve respect and dignity, but this legislation is not about that.

"It poses a threat to women, especially those who are vulnerable, in safe spaces and that is clearly wrong. But I stress this is not about the rights and dignity of trans people, but about those who pretend to be trans to gain access to women's safe spaces. Any legislation that creates that loophole is a concern.
"This is a problem made in Scotland and should be sorted in Scotland. It should be withdrawn and scrapped."
Mr MacNeil, who is Chair of the International Trade Select Committee, said he had made his feelings clear to some of his fellow SNP colleagues about the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.
"I hope common sense prevails over this," he said."

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/angus-macneil-joins-snp-civil-28855613

Oh please 🤞
the reporting can be so frustratingly hard to interpret!

🙏🏻🤞this is such an important issue, and if the SG can’t be trusted to look after women and girls here and the UK Govt has to step in to protect us then so be it.

Hard to tell if this is a new development or more speculation based on what's been said already. The "very serious concerns" quote looks new? I can only see one source with today's date but adding here just in case:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/legal-showdown-looms-over-snps-28849557?intsource=amppcontinuereading&inttmedium=amp&intcampaign=continueereadingbutton

"The UK Governmentt is set to mount an unprecedented legal challenge to block Nicola Sturgeon’ss controversial gender reforms. The Sunday Maill_ has learned that ministers will more likely than not lodge a Section 35 Order in an attempt to veto the legislation within weeks.
...
A senior UK Government source said: “Ministers across the UK Government have very serious concerns about the SNP’s gender recognition bill. Lawyers and officials are still assessing the potential impact of the bill on the Equalities Act and other UK-wide legislation and considering the implications for prisons and schools.
"Obviously any action by the UK Government would have to be consistent with the devolution settlement but using a Section 35 Order, as set out in the Scotland Act, to prevent the Bill going for royal assent is absolutely on the table.”"

Oh I agree that Nicola and the rest of the SNP are using women and trans people as a political football in her games with Westminster. If she truly cared about trans people we would have been able to have had open and honest conversations over the past few years rather than building up tensions, name calling and refusal to address concerns. Nasty, divisive politics. Labour and the Lib Dems are weak opposition both in Holyrood and Westminster following their own personal agendas rather than seeking evidence based solutions to improve things for everyone in the country.

Monica Lennon Is a TRA full on nutty could be a green TRA

Isn’t it the reverse…Nicola using this issue to goad the Government into intervening.

Isnt Labour against devolution. Didn’t Labour insert the Clause 30 into the relevant legislation. Shouldn’t a national party be concerned about legislative overreach by a devolved Parliament.

Opposition, either in Scotland or in Westminster, needs to be thinking and coherent if it is to be effective.

‘Monica Lennon, a Labour MSP, said: “This toxic Tory UK government will use any excuse to attack devolution. Attacking the rights of trans people is just another tactic.” Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, said he would be “dismayed” if the UK government chose to block the bill.’

The Scottish Parliament is not fit for purpose with these dangerous idiots refusing to acknowledge the negative impact their actions have on women and children.

It’s so hard to watch for women but I’d just let them be.

Scottish voters will need to show support or not at elections

In The Times:

No 10 threat to Scottish gender bill unites MSPs

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/301755d4-8317-11ed-ab78-11b70ed96428?shareToken=07c6a0e1fbec0addc607e3db12ba2151

Sorry this is the document forwomen.scot/29/12/2019/funding-conditions/

But as shown indicates that the Scottish Government was trying to over ride the EA provisions.

I wonder why no legal challenge was made.

Or worse, that no many refuges thought it was an issue. :(

thirdfiddle Assuming the Beira's Place can argue that single sex is appropriate to the purpose of the organisation then can invoke the single sex exemption in the EA which specifically says in this instance women means biological women, and a GRC has no status (which shows that the law actually knows that women are biological females and trans women are a legal fiction). I am sure the TRAs would like to challenge it, but given it is a support service for women who have been victims of male violence they have no grounds. And given the amount of money sloshing around in Stonewall etc., I am a bit surprised they haven't tried to out do JKR and set up a centre for trans people. But then they wouldn't be able to play the victim card, although logically and professionally this is what they should do.

ArabellaScott this has happened throughout the UK. It comes down to money and placing no value of women's services, so generic providers often get money. In Brighton a group called Rise which is trans inclusive also lost their funding.

The comment on facebook about funding has been substantiated. But even given the SNP stance on trans inclusion surely they wouldn't be so brazen as to say we will fund women's refuges but they must be trans inclusive. That's overt discrimination against a group recognised by the EA as having protected characteristics. Given all the court cases that have been mounted, surely someone would have challenged this. And if it was prior to Brexit take it to the Europea Court?!

I wondered if it was about some deal that SWA had done with the SNP which I thought was the Equally Safe in Practice concept but that looks more like training. See womensaid.scot/equally-safe-in-practice/

But interestingly in trying to find out what this allegation was based on (some document by For Women Scotland) I came across this FOI response from what looks like an angry man thinking men are bein discriminated against and they dont seem to have given out much funding at all. (Does Nicola hate women?) www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202000046545/

I have to say it is all getting really confusing. The campaigning seemed to ignore the EA exemption, and (although the may have been there) one thing the public might have paid attention to (rather than thinking it is just women complaining again) is safeguarding and children.