THE UK Government’s decision to block the gender bill passed by the Scottish Government cannot be viewed in isolation. Under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998, the Conservative administration is of course able to embark on this unprecedented course but faux concerns regarding the impact on the Equality Act are merely a red herring.
Their decision to block the bill is a premeditated assault on Scottish devolution and the democratic process. Nothing more, nothing less.
The announcement came via a statement by the charisma-free Alister Jack, Scotland’s very own Viceroy, but the constitutional ramifications of it elevate it above his usual litany of banalities about the Scottish Government that are akin to being mauled by the proverbial dead sheep. He is only the errand boy, whose monotonous delivery masks the sinister intentions of his government.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon says row over gender bill will 'inevitably end up in court'
This most venal of Conservative administrations has transparently awaited an opportunity such as this to undermine the First Minister and her government and bludgeon their constitutional powers. In short, Sunak and his ministers are seeking to clip the wings of the independence movement by displaying a dominant superiority over Scottish matters in comparison to the arrogant apathy of his predecessors.
The political gloves are well and truly off and those hawks in the UK Cabinet who view the First Minister as an upstart and have longed for a more aggressive stance on Scotland are licking their lips in anticipation of a chance to place her and her government under the Westminster heel. This is a Cabinet that thinks nothing of breaking international law, attacking civil liberties and diluting workers’ rights.
The incremental erosion of democracy continues to gather pace, aided and abetted by a Labour Party that is utterly ineffectual and unable to provide a viable alternative in terms of leadership, ethical policy or integrity. The pusillanimous and Tory-lite Starmer has advised that his party will take no action in opposing Tory proposals to block the gender bill even although Scottish Labour voted for the bill as part of a large majority (86 votes to 39) that saw a small but significant SNP parliamentary revolt.
READ MORE: Five reasons why the UK Government blocked Scotland's gender bill
The controversial bill was passed across party lines yet the actual substance of the bill may now be of secondary importance as the UK Government seek to use it as a vehicle to weaken the Scottish Parliament generally and the First Minister specifically. Doubtless she will, quite rightly, appeal the decision to challenge legislation that lies within the powers of Holyrood but she must also appear proactive to highlight the clear and present danger of Westminster’s action to Scottish democracy. Words are not enough; she and her government should use this attempt to use trans people as a political football to galvanise peaceful protest throughout the country and proclaim the constitutional hazards that we now face. The Tories are trying to stoke a culture war at the expense of our democratically devolved assembly.
The UK Government may well regret their myopic attempt to escalate the struggle for Scotland’s future as they have in their imperial past in Ireland, India and even the USA. The Scottish Government would do well to consider the motto of the suffragettes at this vital time – deeds not words. Indeed, the game is now afoot.
Owen Kelly
Stirling
I CAN remember nothing in post-devo Scottish politics that gives such a troubling, eerie echo of the assertion that Holyrood is a “pretendy” parliament than what has happened with the blocking of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. Any conception of “recognition” has been ridden roughshod over by this outrageous intervention. The democratically elected membership of this parliament has been IGNORED. If this doesn’t tell you what contempt this parliament, these members, our citizens are held in, what does?
This is not party political. This is not about sides, nor is it about sovereignty. This is ultimately about DEMOCRACY.
READ MORE: Scottish Labour enter civil war over blocking of gender reform bill
The response of the “opposition” parties will no doubt be as sickening as I am sickened. Labour love-bombs from their civil-servant-hologram leader will be as disingenuous as ever. I hope constituents of all hues will be, as I am, contacting their MPs and MSPs on this issue – regardless of your party leanings. What exactly is their role if their collective will can be dismissed?
Monica Foe
Edinburgh
I HEARD Dominic Grieve on Radio 4 on Monday say a very interesting phrase pertaining to the GRR bill. He said that the law should be reviewed as “the Equality Act pertains across the whole of the UK and the GRR legislation will have an effect on this UK legislation”. Of course the GRR bill will have an effect on reserved matters, ie the Equality Act 2010, but this has been debated forensically by Holyrood.
He stated this: “When someone moves from Berwick or crosses the Tweed, the legal framework in which they operate will be different so there will be some practical implications for this as well as political”. Was he inferring that the GRR will change the parameters when in fact the legal framework has been different for 315 years, or have we missed something?
READ MORE: Alister Jack challenged by MPs over gender reform section 35 order
An interesting example would be if a French person moved to London after Brexit and encountered the very different English legal system from that pertaining in Calais. Is that a problem? Does the French person say, sorry I will have to apply French law so that I will not have any “practical implications” around my actions?
The statements of Dominic Grieve – and I have a lot of time for the man on other matters – seem to indicate that he does not understand the Treaty of Union that preserved education, the Church and crucially, the LAW as Scottish institutions and that any Englishman coming to Scotland will have his actions governed under Scots law the minute they cross the Border.
David Neilson
Dumfries
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