Scottish Labour Manifesto - Commits to Single Sex spaces

[fromorbit]

While Bridget Philipson seems confused about the Supreme Court judgement Scottish Labour seem to have very different ideas. Anas Sarwar at the manifesto launch was very clear:

Scottish Labour Women's Declaration
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9h
Thank you to the journalist who asked Anas Sarwar about single-sex spaces and the EHRC guidelines.

Watch here:
https://nitter.net/treesey/status/2043669310594248802

The manifesto has triggered a massive meltdown from TAs. Women's rights are likely to be a bigger part of the campaign with Scottish Labour, Conservatives, Reform all in agreement that women exist while SNP, Greens and Lib Dems are unsure. Don't forget to raise it with any candidates if you can.

Some extracts from the manifesto when they say women they clearly mean women.

PROTECTING WOMEN’S HEALTH
Women’s health has long been overlooked and too
frequently women are ignored or dismissed when they
raise their concerns. It is time for this to change and for
women’s health to be given the priority it deserves. To
improve health care for women, Scottish Labour will:

• Deliver safe maternity services in every part of the
country, with a national plan to drive improvements where
services have fallen short and ensure that women can
access quality maternity care no matter where they live.
• Guarantee support for new families, training and
recruiting the health visitors needed to provide home
visits between pre-birth and a child turning five.
• Reverse the decision to downgrade Wishaw
neonatal unit, pausing the plans to centralise
specialist neonatal units across Scotland, and
commissioning a new review of services.
• Recommit the NHS to delivering single sex wards
on the basis of biological sex, and ensuring patients
can request same sex provision wherever possible.
• Tackle long waits for gynaecological procedures,
improving speed of access to colposcopies, laparoscopies
and hysterectomies, and diagnosing endometriosis faster.
• Provide menopause clinics in every health
board region, so women can access the support,
advice and medical interventions they need.
• Protect women’s reproductive rights, ensuring
that they are able to access the full range of
reproductive services, no matter where they live. [p16]

STANDING UP FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Delivering single-sex spaces on the basis of biological
sex, in NHS wards, schools, sport and everyday life
by upholding the Equality Act and delivering clear
instructions to public services on how to comply with
their legal obligations to women and to trans people. [p52]

Scrapping the sentencing guidelines for
under-25s, so sentences are fair and no one
escapes justice because of their age.

Preventing bail for those with histories of violence
to women, to protect victims of domestic abuse [p55]

Keeping women’s prisons for women, instructing the
Scottish Prison Service to remove all biologically male
prisoners from women’s prisons within days of the election. [p 58]

TACKLING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

Rising crime and reoffending needs a robust response. Keeping people safe is the Government’s first responsibility. That’s why there’ll be no soft touch or sticking plasters with Scottish Labour.
Linda Dorward, former prison governor

Domestic abuse is still prolific in our society, with men
overwhelmingly the perpetrators. Misogynistic attitudes
and violence are also on the rise, often fuelled by online
discourse that is targeted at young men. Scottish Labour is
determined to protect women and girls in Scotland by:

• Establishing a Misogyny Reduction Unit, based within
Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit and treating violence
against women and girls as an issue of public health
with research and evidence-based interventions..
• Closing legal loopholes around sexual deepfakes,
ensuring the law criminalises the non-consensual
creation of images, as well as the sharing of them.
• Preventing bail for those with histories of violence to
women, tightening bail laws so those with a history
of domestic abuse and violence cannot be bailed
to their current or previous partner’s address.
• Boosting uptake of the Equally Safe Programme
in schools, with a graded participation award so
that young people and parents can see the work
that schools are doing to counter the impact of
online misogyny and abusive behaviour.
• Continue funding for Rape Crisis and Women’s Aid,
ensuring resources are delivered to local services
which support victims around the country.

[p60]

https://scottishlabour.org.uk/manifesto-2026/

On the subject of voting, can anyone link to a list of who voted for or against Ash Regan's 'Unbuyable' Bill? I can find a list of who supported the initial proposal but not the Bill itself - unless I'm getting myself muddled and these are the same thing. I'm sure someone shared previously on here and I want to base my vote on that too.

@guinnessguzzler
Results of the vote on the 'Unbuyable' Bill here.

Amazing @PinsAndThrums thanks so much. Every single Green voted against it, the absolute fuckwits, and Alison Johnstone didn't vote, what a disappointment she turned out to be. I remember being angry about it at the time! Honestly, most of the time our politicians could be on the moon for all the good they do but just occasionally they actually have the chance to do some real good and when that chance comes, most of them just fuck it up!

Anyone spotted this?

Pro-Scottish Labour group turns on Anas Sarwar over ‘transphobia’
https://archive.ph/ycbGN

And...
Scottish Labour Against Bigotry advise voters not to vote for Labour
https://bsky.app/profile/slabcampaign.bsky.social/post/3mjeyghfors2s

Slabs, bricks....

Oh thank you for posting this because I was so lost about my vote. I get what you’re saying @TheywontletmehavethenameIwantbut I have to vote for someone so I’ll just have to trust them. They know their previous position has cost them a ton of votes.

Mmn. Deeds not words. Labour have proved they'll say anything, and their words bear very little reality to what they will actually do in power.

But it at least shows they know this is what the populace would vote for.

Well, well. I was already likely to vote Labour in the constituency: I have a good local candidate who is impressive on lots of issues, including women's rights. She sent me a detailed response when I wrote to her, and I liked both the substance of what she said and the way she said it. Seeing those manifesto commitments written in plain, unambiguous English has made my mind up. Do I wish Anas would apologise for whipping Labour MSPs to vote for the GRR Bill? Yes I do, and I'd be more likely to trust him and the party if he acknowledged how wrong he was, through refusing to listen to women. But we're unlikely to get that, and there's enough in the manifesto to give me every reason to trust a good candidate with my vote.

Regional vote is different; I've no idea who the man at the top of the Labour list in my region is, other than he previously stood as a candidate for SNP and more recently Alba. I've written to him to ask where he stands on sex and gender but he hasn't replied. I'll be voting for one of the independents. Both Ash Regan and Jeremy Balfour are standing in my region, and I'd vote for either of them. Obviously Ash is very good on women's rights, but Jeremy Balfour is as well, and he's also been excellent on disability which is another issue very close to my heart.

I for one am relieved, just like a PP said. You have to trust someone and the other options locally are dire. Though I personally like the Greens regional candidate, I find her good in parliament, I would never vote for them in the current climate, especially with that pair of numpties leading, even aside of the trans question.

I strongly agree with this.

If this is enough for SLab to earn your vote, let them know what swung your vote their way.

I'd be checking the views of highly ranked list candidates just to gauge the balance of feeling within Lab. I know a lot of Lab activists and members are talking seriously about amending the EA2010 rather than accepting that sex matters and sex-based rights deserve protection.

For me, one sign that Sarwar is genuinely committed to sex-based rights would be that he's taken the time and made the effort to meet with FWS and other women who've been campaigning on this (which would be an opportunity for a semi-private apology, whilst he locates his backbone and limbers up to show some leadership by making a more public apology to the women who've been harmed by this madness - including all the women who quietly stopped going to groups, fitness sessions etc. because they weren't single sex or because they wouldn't be able to use a single sex changing room). It's not realistic to expect most politicians to apologise, but a leader can legitimately be held to a higher standard.

That manifesto is about the minimum that could be said by anyone not committed to wriggling out of the implications of the SC judgment. Lots missing and some weasel words. I think we need to be mindful of how much baseline creep has taken place: the trans lobby succeeded in making sex almost totally irrelevant in the public realm and normalised the most astonishing coerced language. Naomi Cunningham had to argue in court to be allowed to call a man a man. That's crazy. Small concessions aren't enough for me. I want this ideology comprehensively overthrown and I want the people lumped together under the trans umbrella disaggregated, so we can deal with the predators via the criminal justice system, help young people to feel comfortable with their bodies and sexuality and treat those with severe dysphoria.

Scottish Labour moved on this issue because rebels inside the party and heroes outside forced them to do so. What happened in Scotland proves ordinary people and the truth can win and will win. Make sure they know this.

Keep pushing, email every candidate even the ones who will respond badly. Go to hustings. Post everywhere you can over the final weeks.

Get them on record one way or the other. Because even if people don't crush this madness this election people can further down the line. The Scottish Local Government Elections are in May 2027 remember.

Remember for the Scottish Greens denying the existence of biology is their biggest issue. They have to cover up the scandals in the party. People do not know how crazy they are. They have candidates who want to abolish prisons.

The SNP are even more bizarre in a way. The Greens genuinely believe in gender ideology. I am not sure that the SNP leadership now Sturgeon has gone do in the same way, they just can't admit they were wrong and women were right. They won't face up to the TAs in the party.

The thing is the SNP are going to lose on this issue. Everyday the truth gets stronger. Even if they pass their conversion therapy law in an attempt to stop anyone who says sex is real it will contradict the equality act and FWS can take them on in court.

There is an absolute meltdown over what Scottish Labour is saying. The truth is way too dangerous.