>SNP ministers are this week expected to launch a court challenge to the UK government’s veto of a contentious Holyrood bill to liberalise gender laws. Humza Yousaf has until April 17 to lodge a judicial review to the section 35 order introduced by UK ministers to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which will allow people to change gender more quickly and reduces the age threshold to 16.
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>In a move that risks losing support among the public, the first minister has heavily hinted that he would begin legal proceedings to overturn the veto which stymied the bill.
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>“I made abundantly clear throughout the course of the leadership contest that my starting principle is to challenge the Westminster veto over the GRR bill,” he said.
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>“You can imagine of course I’ve been having intense conversations in that regard and I’ll be making an announcement on the potential challenge of the section 35 order imminently given that deadline.”
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>Asked by journalists to confirm if that meant he would launch the legal action, Yousaf replied: “It means I’ll be making an announcement on it pretty imminently given that deadline.”
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>Throughout his campaign to be leader of the SNP and first minister, Yousaf championed a court challenge. This was in contrast to his two rivals, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan, who wanted either a compromise with Whitehall or for the bill to be dropped completely.
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>In later debates, Yousaf said that he would not go to the courts if legal advice suggested that the attempt would fail. The Scottish government has said that it will not break convention to release information about what its lawyers have told ministers about the prospect of success in a court challenge.
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>A poll by Panelbase for the Sunday Times last week found that 18 per cent of voters believed that Yousaf should launch a legal challenge, while 44 per cent said that he should abandon the bill. Twenty-four per cent thought a compromise should be found with the UK government.
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>The bill prompted the largest rebellion yet among SNP MSPs in government and disgruntled backbenchers have blamed the Scottish Greens for forcing a hardline approach to some amendments that were proposed.
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>Yousaf said that he was keen to keep the smaller group in coalition for the full Holyrood term despite offering a potential escape route for both parties. “There is always a review mechanism I think within the Bute House Agreement and no doubt we will keep the Bute House Agreement under a regular review, but I’m absolutely committed to it,” he said.
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>Rachael Hamilton MSP, Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman, said: “This is the strongest hint yet that Humza Yousaf is going to prioritise another constitutional grievance with the UK government rather than listening to public concerns over this reckless legislation.
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>“The first minister knows fine well that Nicola Sturgeon’s gender reform bill is deeply unpopular with the public because it compromises the safety of women and girls.
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>“However, instead he is pandering to the Greens and desperately trying to shore his pro-independence base by threatening this fight with the UK government. He should stop this posturing, stand up to his Green partners and drop this threat of legal action. Everyone wants to make life better for trans people, but the Scottish secretary was left with little option to act as Nicola Sturgeon’s bill leaves women vulnerable to bad-faith actors.”
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>A UK government spokesman said: “The secretary of state for Scotland made an order under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998, preventing the Scottish Parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from proceeding to royal assent.
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>“This was done after thorough and careful consideration of all the relevant advice and the policy implications. This legislation would have an adverse effect on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities protections and other reserved matters.”
Title should really read “Scottish Government” seeing as the Greens are involved in government and support this move.
As for polling right now, polling in 2021/early 2022, let alone during the two public consulations this bill had were in favour. That’s what a trans panic does, quite like the gay panic where if we listened to polling during that section 28 would have been in place for longer and things like banning gay men from adopting.
I feel so sorry for those that placed their trust in the SNP for independence. Obviously independence will be now impossible for many decades, if at all, and the SNP’s implosion guarantees the struggle for their survival.
The good Scottish people who placed their trust in the SNP must feel awfully betrayed.
>”The first minister knows fine well that Nicola Sturgeon’s gender reform bill is deeply unpopular with the public because it compromises the safety of women and girls.”
They’re really just going for the whole “repeat a lie long enough and people will believe it” approach, the absolute state of British journalism that this provable disinformation is published uncritically.
As much as I hate to admit it, I think Yousaf needs to back down from this challenge, drop the bill and rethink the SNP’s strategy. The bill is being met with tonnes of opposition, not just from Westminster but from MSPs within Holyrood and the Scottish public.
I guess he really is the Sturgeon continuity candidate. Next he’ll be burying cash under the patio.
It is insane that we are in a situation where the government is simultaneously fighting to stop gender recognition from becoming any easier, while at the same time intending to legislate to make that change meaningless. There’s no longer any specific objective. Anti-trans gestures have just become a socially acceptable way to court votes.
6 comments
[https://archive.ph/iKlRn](https://archive.ph/iKlRn)
>SNP ministers are this week expected to launch a court challenge to the UK government’s veto of a contentious Holyrood bill to liberalise gender laws. Humza Yousaf has until April 17 to lodge a judicial review to the section 35 order introduced by UK ministers to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which will allow people to change gender more quickly and reduces the age threshold to 16.
>
>In a move that risks losing support among the public, the first minister has heavily hinted that he would begin legal proceedings to overturn the veto which stymied the bill.
>
>“I made abundantly clear throughout the course of the leadership contest that my starting principle is to challenge the Westminster veto over the GRR bill,” he said.
>
>“You can imagine of course I’ve been having intense conversations in that regard and I’ll be making an announcement on the potential challenge of the section 35 order imminently given that deadline.”
>
>Asked by journalists to confirm if that meant he would launch the legal action, Yousaf replied: “It means I’ll be making an announcement on it pretty imminently given that deadline.”
>
>Throughout his campaign to be leader of the SNP and first minister, Yousaf championed a court challenge. This was in contrast to his two rivals, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan, who wanted either a compromise with Whitehall or for the bill to be dropped completely.
>
>In later debates, Yousaf said that he would not go to the courts if legal advice suggested that the attempt would fail. The Scottish government has said that it will not break convention to release information about what its lawyers have told ministers about the prospect of success in a court challenge.
>
>A poll by Panelbase for the Sunday Times last week found that 18 per cent of voters believed that Yousaf should launch a legal challenge, while 44 per cent said that he should abandon the bill. Twenty-four per cent thought a compromise should be found with the UK government.
>
>The bill prompted the largest rebellion yet among SNP MSPs in government and disgruntled backbenchers have blamed the Scottish Greens for forcing a hardline approach to some amendments that were proposed.
>
>Yousaf said that he was keen to keep the smaller group in coalition for the full Holyrood term despite offering a potential escape route for both parties. “There is always a review mechanism I think within the Bute House Agreement and no doubt we will keep the Bute House Agreement under a regular review, but I’m absolutely committed to it,” he said.
>
>Rachael Hamilton MSP, Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman, said: “This is the strongest hint yet that Humza Yousaf is going to prioritise another constitutional grievance with the UK government rather than listening to public concerns over this reckless legislation.
>
>“The first minister knows fine well that Nicola Sturgeon’s gender reform bill is deeply unpopular with the public because it compromises the safety of women and girls.
>
>“However, instead he is pandering to the Greens and desperately trying to shore his pro-independence base by threatening this fight with the UK government. He should stop this posturing, stand up to his Green partners and drop this threat of legal action. Everyone wants to make life better for trans people, but the Scottish secretary was left with little option to act as Nicola Sturgeon’s bill leaves women vulnerable to bad-faith actors.”
>
>A UK government spokesman said: “The secretary of state for Scotland made an order under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998, preventing the Scottish Parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from proceeding to royal assent.
>
>“This was done after thorough and careful consideration of all the relevant advice and the policy implications. This legislation would have an adverse effect on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities protections and other reserved matters.”
Title should really read “Scottish Government” seeing as the Greens are involved in government and support this move.
As for polling right now, polling in 2021/early 2022, let alone during the two public consulations this bill had were in favour. That’s what a trans panic does, quite like the gay panic where if we listened to polling during that section 28 would have been in place for longer and things like banning gay men from adopting.
The rest of the world is moving on, just recently https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64666356
I feel so sorry for those that placed their trust in the SNP for independence. Obviously independence will be now impossible for many decades, if at all, and the SNP’s implosion guarantees the struggle for their survival.
The good Scottish people who placed their trust in the SNP must feel awfully betrayed.
>”The first minister knows fine well that Nicola Sturgeon’s gender reform bill is deeply unpopular with the public because it compromises the safety of women and girls.”
They’re really just going for the whole “repeat a lie long enough and people will believe it” approach, the absolute state of British journalism that this provable disinformation is published uncritically.
As much as I hate to admit it, I think Yousaf needs to back down from this challenge, drop the bill and rethink the SNP’s strategy. The bill is being met with tonnes of opposition, not just from Westminster but from MSPs within Holyrood and the Scottish public.
I guess he really is the Sturgeon continuity candidate. Next he’ll be burying cash under the patio.
It is insane that we are in a situation where the government is simultaneously fighting to stop gender recognition from becoming any easier, while at the same time intending to legislate to make that change meaningless. There’s no longer any specific objective. Anti-trans gestures have just become a socially acceptable way to court votes.