I do not regret supporting gender reforms, says Swinney

Scotland’s First Minister has said he does not regret voting for his Government’s controversial gender recognition reforms.

John Swinney said the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was “the product of careful consideration” and scrutiny by MSPs.

On Tuesday, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and his deputy Dame Jackie Baillie U-turned on their support for the legislation.

The Bill was passed overwhelmingly in Holyrood by 86 votes to 39 in 2022 but was later blocked by the then Conservative UK government, which said it violated equalities laws.

The legislation aimed to simplify the process trans people go through to get a gender recognition certificate in their acquired gender.

It introduced self-identification without a medical diagnosis as part of the reforms.

Opponents of self-ID policies point to high-profile cases such as the NHS Fife employment tribunal which came after a female nurse was disciplined after complaining about sharing a changing room with a trans doctor.

Asked whether he still backs the legislation, Mr Swinney told reporters in Glasgow: “I do not regret my support from the GRR Bill.

“It was a product of careful consideration by the Scottish Government in terms of the formulation of the legislation.

“It was a subject of very, very, very extensive parliamentary consideration of the legislation.

“I think what it was an attempt to do was to try to improve the circumstances of a very small minority in our country, in the trans community, and to make life a bit easier for them.

“That was the purpose of the legislation, and that was why I was happy to support it.”

It comes after the leader of Scottish Labour said he “regrets” his party’s support for the Bill, saying he would have opposed it “knowing what we know now”.

Mr Sarwar made the U-turn while expressing his support for Sandie Peggie, the nurse at the centre of the Fife tribunal.

She objected to sharing a female changing room with Dr Beth Upton, a transgender doctor. She also reportedly faces a separate conduct hearing for allegedly misgendering Dr Upton.

“No nurse should ever face disciplinary action for refusing to share a changing room,” Mr Sarwar said.

He said Scottish Labour supports single-sex spaces based on biological sex, telling the Holyrood Sources podcast: “If we are going to stop falling into divisive culture war politics, and we are going to make progress as a nation, we have got to say, quite clearly, we support single-sex spaces based on biological sex, we respect the Equality Act.”

During his visit to Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, the First Minister refused to comment on the ongoing tribunal.

He said: “There’s a live case going on in NHS Fife, and I am just not going to talk about the details of that live case because it’s wrong for the First Minister to comment on live cases that are under way.

“I therefore quite understand why the Government said that there was not a statement to be made yesterday to Parliament on the NHS Fife case, because it’s a live case, and it is subjudice.”

The Conservatives have rejected the subjudice argument by the First Minister, accusing him of “moral cowardice” for choosing not to issue a statement on single-sex spaces.

Tory MSP Tess White said: “John Swinney’s contradictory remarks sum up why Parliament must urgently be given the chance to question the SNP Government on this issue.

“In one breath he reiterated his overwhelming support for Nicola Sturgeon’s reckless self-ID policy, which has become embedded in our public bodies and which supports the rights of transwomen to access single-sex areas.

“In the next breath, he said he expects public bodies to apply the law – which explicitly protects the rights of biological women to single-sex spaces.

“John Swinney and his ministers can’t have it both ways. Employers like the NHS need clarity from the SNP Government, and women and girls need to know that ministers will rigorously uphold their legal protections.

“It’s a total cop-out by John Swinney to use the adjournment of a tribunal as an excuse for not showing some leadership and accepting scrutiny in Holyrood.

“The public and employers up and down Scotland can’t be left in limbo for months to spare the First Minister challenging questions.”