He said: “I think what the Conservatives are doing here is that they are specifically eroding the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
“They’ve been doing it since Brexit and they’re now carrying it on with the steps they’re taking on the Equality Act. I don’t think that’s got any justification.
“I want the Scottish Parliament to be a parliament that deals with all the issues that affect the people of Scotland. And I’m certainly not going to stand idly by as the Conservatives erode the powers of the Scottish Parliament.”
Mr Swinney also argued the Tory proposals were unnecessary as the Equality Act already provided protections for women-only spaces.
But JK Rowling responded on Twitter: “When exactly in the 1997 devolution (referendum) campaign was it mentioned that we were also voting to reclassify ‘woman’ as a nebulous collection of stereotypes that men can identify in and out of?”
Speaking during a campaign visit to Glasgow, Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader welcomed his party’s plan, saying most people would expect the issue of gender recognition to be “consistent across the whole of the United Kingdom”.
He said: “I don’t want to see a repeat of the situations we’ve had here in Scotland such as the Isla Bryson scandal or the SNP’s attempts to pass the Gender Recognition Reform Act, which were clearly very controversial, but also ultimately did not succeed because of the court case between the UK and Scottish governments.”
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
