Scottish Government 'prepared to go back to court' re. FWS ruling

[OhBuggerandArse]

Or so a source has told Gina Davidson, here:
https://x.com/ginadavidsonlbc/status/1963647468081459414

They must know they are breaking the law by dragging out implementing the changes that the EHRC told them to get on with. What is their objective?

For crying out loud!

OK well let them. Bring it on.

Is that even possible? Wouldn't they have to go to the ECHR?

On what grounds?

I don't think it means to appeal it.

FWS threatened to take them back to court for failing to implement the SC ruling unless they agreed to do so by tomorrow. They haven't. So the Scottish Government is allegedly willing to go back to court to try and defend not following the law, because apparently that's a much easier and better option than just following the frickin' law.

They might as well just stack taxpayers money into a huge pile and throw a lit match on it.

edited to make a bit clearer.

I thought they'd said at the time they weren't going to appeal it.

So now they're just going to say its OK to break the law? Are they quite mad?

(Don't bother answering that....)

I hadn't even considered that. It's late and I'm tired, but how is that even possible? Is their argument going to be the 'waiting for guidance' bollocks?

Probably, Jazzy. I'm not sure that will work though, didn't EHRC tell everyone to get on with following the law and that they don't have to wait for the guidance?

They can't go the European route because they're a government. So that's out.

If they're thinking of joining one of Jolyon's actions, I can only say that would be a brave decision.

Ultimately the SC has said what the law is, you don't have to wait for EHRC guidance to follow the law. EHRC guidance is mostly useful for smaller employers who don't have in-house legal teams, not the Scottish Frigging Government who have I don't know how many in-house lawyers apparently scratching their arses rather than telling the SNP how to comply with the law.

They might as well just stack taxpayers money into a huge pile and throw a lit match on it.

From a basic economics point of view, setting light to the cash would be better.

When you burn cash you remove it from circulation, which makes the rest of the cash left in the system all worth a bit more. Alternatively the government can print (and keep) the same amount of money as you burned - net result, a transfer of money from you to the government. Result: burning money is the same as paying it to the government (just as if you had paid extra tax.)

In contrast, when you spend money, it stays in circulation, and the government doesn't benefit,.

So, in this case, stacking money in a big pile and setting light to it would be a more productive use of it.

EHRC guidance is mostly useful for smaller employers who don't have in-house legal teams, not the Scottish Frigging Government who have I don't know how many in-house lawyers apparently scratching their arses

On the evidence so far, they may have a lot of lawyers but they don't have any competent ones. The ones they have would probably be more use sticking to arse scratching than attempting legal advice.

As to the Scottish Government lawyers, this is worth noting. Not just re. Spear herself but re. a workplace culture that thought it could have been in any way appropriate to appoint her. https://x.com/WingsScotland/status/1874947615370182920
(I assume she was appointed because of her views and track record, not despite them - and that tells you exactly why we are in such trouble)

It is a shame they can’t hold government ministers personally responsible. That seems to be what is required to focus minds. Even Maggie Chapman supported making Holyrood’s toilets properly single sex when the system made her personally responsible for doing so.

Its not an appeal its a review of certain illegal policies including the prison 1. The article below talks a bit about the case

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/arrogant-john-swinney-not-bothered-35757599?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

And this is one about a case sex matters is threatening
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/john-swinney-handed-seven-day-35500941?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

I’m so fed up with the Scottish government wasting our money on court cases they are clearly going to lose.

I sometimes mention this, but I'll mention it again.

A dozen or so years ago, I worked on a semi-regular basis alongside someone who at the time was a senior figure in ScotGov. I still don't know whether he was an SNP supporter; he gave his takes on governance in Scotland, and didn't get into party or ideology.

What he said about the personalities was that Salmond was the vision man, Swinney was the details man, and their view was that if they could run a more or less competent government then they'd have gone halfway to making the case for independence. (He never mentioned Sturgeon once. Sometimes I wonder about that.)

Anyway, Salmond is deid and we've now got the desiccated zombie of Swinney heading up an SNP government which doesn't seem to have any purpose other than keeping the SNP in government and money flowing to its fellow travellers in the government funded third sector.

No wonder Kate Forbes wanted out.

And its officially on the Scottish government now has 7 days to lodge a defence

https://x.com/ForWomenScot/status/1965764002438611236

Wow. Does no one in the Scottish government know how the constitution works? I mean, OK, I get that there are lots of powerful white males doing what powerful white males have always done - everything to get their own way.and remain in power - but there are ways and means of doing so, and ignoring the law is not it.

There would be some teeny-tiny justification for the govt to go back to court if they were being instructed to go around change - at great expense in terms of money and disruption - every single toilet provision in every single public building, right here, right now.

They're not. They're being instructed to maintain or restore the arrangement that has been in place for generations, and that meets the needs of the vast majority of the population, and complies with the law. That shouldn't cost anything.

Now if they were being forced to instal, without delay, a fourth toilet space in every single public building, at great expense in terms of money and disruption, to meet the needs of approx 0.44% of the population of Scotland - that would be a different matter - surely no reasonable person could justify spending scarce public money to facilitate such a tiny percentage of the population...😏

I see the NHSFife is also on your screenshot. Wonder what that's about!

Hmmm……….I wondered that too!

Excellent news and good luck to Evelyn Simpson whoever she is.

I wish the Scottish Government ministers could be held personally accountable.