FPFW taking Scottish census authority to judicial review

[Fallingirl]

FPFW have applied for a judicial review, and expect to be granted permission in January and to have an expedited hearing in February.

It stands to reason they ought to both be granted permission and win the review, but if the Scottish government can throw any spanners in any wheels, they surely will.

“Fair Play For Women has instructed top Scottish barrister Roddy Dunlop QC, Dean of Faculty of Advocates, to fight the case in the Scottish Court of Session. Once permission is granted by the Court in early January an expedited hearing is likely to be held in February so an order from the court can be made before the Census opens at the of that month.”

fairplayforwomen.com/fair-play-for-women-launches-judicial-review-over-sex-question-in-scottish-census/

Great to see this, but the headline in the Mail on Sunday is misleading 'Sturgeon faces court fight on transgender question in census'. Deliberate pot-stirring?

Good. Do they have an allotment for this yet?

So pleased to see this. I was worried they wouldn’t take the fight to Scotland. Thank you Fair Play.

So was I AnyOldPrion, it is a big commitment to take on so I wasn't going to blame them but I am so glad they are. I also think if you are in England you can'take afford to ignore what is going on in Scotland or vice versa.

It’s so frustrating they have to do this again. Are the laws different in Scotland in relation to this matter?

Signalbox The responsibility for running Scotland's census lies with the National Records of Scotland, but the Office for National Statistics publishes statistics for the whole of the UK. Previous censuses have adopted a policy of harmonisation so that the stats are comparable. This is already going to be hard to achieve as Scottish data will be one year behind the other home nations. If the basic question of sex can be answered differently as well, not only will it produce bad data, it will also be impossible to have a UK-wide analysis.

I wonder why a party intent on splitting the UK would do that?

Hooray! Thank you for not forgetting about us here in Scotland, Nic!

We need all the help we can get with Nicola Sturgeon on the loose.

@Lovelyricepudding

So was I AnyOldPrion, it is a big commitment to take on so I wasn't going to blame them but I am so glad they are. I also think if you are in England you can'take afford to ignore what is going on in Scotland or vice versa.

I wouldn’t have blamed them either and I wonder whether the Scottish government were relying on the supposition that nobody would bother to challenge them. It will be interesting to see whether the result will be the same. Very difficult to know how it will play out. I don’t imagine even judges can be unbiased on this topic any more.

Especially after being trained in secret by genderists....

I don’t imagine even judges can be unbiased on this topic any more.

If Scottish judges have had the same secret trans training, along with using the biased "bench book" that they have had in England then it's highly likely they'll already be using unscientific gender woowoo as a basis for their thinking. If you've not read it, this damning critique of the bias currently in the guidance for judges is worth a a read:

policyexchange.org.uk/author/thomaschacko/

I'm not sure that Scottish judges would be any less captured.

I'm not sure that Scottish judges would be any less captured.

I’m rather of the opinion they’re likely to be more captured, though I hope I’m wrong.

Great news. Does anyone have a link ot the Mail article? I have looked but that site is like a fever dream and I can't find it.

Also, thnk you to FPFW for this action. Someone needs to reign the Scotgov in on these issues and I can't think of a better organisation to do so.

I wonder why a party intent on splitting the UK would do that?

A bit off topic, but having recently moved to Scotland I've found a really prominent need to do things differently to the rest of the UK, that is unexpected and annoying. For example:

• my NHS number isn't recognised in Scotland. I needed to get a special CHI number instead. My GP was really slow about this and I had to repeatedly hassle them for weeks to get it sorted.
• The GP didn't bother to contact my English GP for my medical records so none of my medical history is known.
• The Covid check in apps are different in England and Scotland and are not compatible. You can't scan a Scottish QR code on an English app (and presumably vice versa)
• The Covid vaccine passport apps are also mutually incompatible. The Scottish one still shows that I'm unvaccinated, despite me printing off my proof of vaccination from the English one and giving it to my GP to add to my medical records.
• Loads of laws are subtly different in Scotland - for example around forced marriage - which makes it hard to search for correct information.

It really feels like being different for the sake of being different - but in a way that impedes functionality.

To make up for my rant / derail above, here's the details from FPFW about the JR, with some gardening tips:
fairplayforwomen.com/fair-play-for-women-launches-judicial-review-over-sex-question-in-scottish-census/

Excellent thank you FPFW & delighted they have Roddy Dunlop

Off to garden

Such good news. Really grateful to FPFW for taking this on. They have a donate button on their website.

Great news. Very important step.

@ArabellaScott

Great news. Does anyone have a link ot the Mail article? I have looked but that site is like a fever dream and I can't find it.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10276961/Nicola-Sturgeon-faces-legal-battle-plans-let-trans-people-choose-sex-census.html

Great news. Ta so much fair play

Thank you, Signal.

Reviving this thread as just seen that the review has been granted and will take place on 2nd February.

That’s a great statement - wow!

“What is meant by “sex” is a question of law – and not simply a matter on which the Scottish Ministers can simply take a view. If Nicola Sturgeon wanted to change the definition of sex in the Scottish Census she should have convinced her own parliament its the right thing to do. Her Ministers tried but failed to do so”.

“She does not have the power to make up her own definition and force it through regardless. That’s not how democracy works. We are bringing this legal action to defend the rights of women and girls in Scotland”.

All the for Nic!

So delighted someone is prepared to take on the batshit authoritarian Scottish Nationalists

Will fling her a load of carrots now