SCOTLAND UPHOLDS LGBTQ RIGHTS

Nicola Sturgeon: Alister Jack has acted like a ‘governor-general’ over trans law

Simon Johnson
Thu, January 19, 2023 

Nicola Sturgeon - Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Nicola Sturgeon has accused the Scottish Secretary of acting like a colonial “governor-general” after he vetoed her gender reforms over their impact on UK-wide protections for women.

The First Minister said Alister Jack had treated the Scottish Parliament as a “subordinate body” by “deciding which democratic decisions and laws to veto”.

In a speech to a group of pro-independence businessmen and women, she claimed the decision signalled the start of “a new and more dangerous phase for devolution” that showed Scotland should leave the UK.

Ms Sturgeon claimed that the Tories have “broken cover” and their “stealth attacks” on the Scottish Parliament had “been joined by a full-frontal assault”.

But UK Government sources rejected her allegations, saying that her decision to resort to personal slurs against Mr Jack demonstrated the weakness of her case.

Her outspoken assault on the Scottish Secretary came after one of the country’s most eminent legal authorities rejected as “quite wrong” the First Minister’s claim that the veto represented an attack on Holyrood.

Lord Hope of Craighead, a former deputy president of the UK Supreme Court, said the power was “not destroying devolution at all” but was included in the Scotland Act that created it.

Despite her claims to be very confident of victory, he warned Ms Sturgeon that she had a “very low” chance of overturning the veto in her planned judicial review court action and questioned whether it was a “sensible use of public money”.

Alister Jack - Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

On Thursday, Shona Robison, the SNP’s Social Justice Secretary, said Mr Jack should “immediately” withdraw the block to “show the UK Government is serious about improving the lives of trans people and respecting Scottish democracy”.

She claimed that Tory ministers had failed to raise any issues about the Bill undermining UK-wide protections for women during its passage at Holyrood.

But, although she said the Scottish Government remained “absolutely determined to vigorously defend the Bill”, she did not repeat her previous threat of court action and warned a legal battle “only raises further uncertainty”.

Mr Jack has offered talks to try and find a compromise but Ms Sturgeon argued his actions demonstrated that “Westminster control means the worst of both worlds” for Scotland, with a weaker Holyrood and a weaker economy.

She said: “Through his actions, the UK Government Secretary of State for Scotland is demonstrating he is, sadly, not interested in working in partnership.

“He’s decided to act like a governor-general: treating the Scottish Parliament as a subordinate body and deciding which democratic decisions and laws to veto.”

Ms Sturgeon also argued that Westminster decision-making was also undermining the Scottish economy, despite her plans to join the EU requiring a hard border with England, the country’s dominant trading partner.

The UK Government said it raised “a number of concerns” about the impact of the Bill on the rest of the UK “as part of our constructive approach, in advance of the legislation passing”.

A series of potential problems were also highlighted by women’s rights groups and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the UK's equalities watchdog.

But Ms Robison insisted the Scottish Government kept UK ministers informed about the Bill’s development during its passage at Holyrood and “at no point” did they ask for it to be amended.

She said: “Put bluntly, this was a one-way conversation up until the final moments this Bill should have gone for Royal Assent and become law.

“So for the Scottish Secretary to announce this week that he was unilaterally vetoing the Bill is fundamentally disrespectful to Scotland’s parliament and the MSPs who have been part of its scrutiny, consideration and passing.”

Referring to Mr Jack’s offer of talks, she said: “If he really wants to work together in a partnership of equals, then he should acknowledge that yesterday’s announcement is completely incompatible with such a partnership, and he should immediately revoke the Section 35 order.

“That would show the UK Government is serious about improving the lives of trans people and respecting Scottish democracy.”

But a UK Government spokesman said a Section 35 order was only issued “after thorough and careful consideration of all the relevant advice and the policy implications”.

He said: “This legislation would have an adverse impact on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities legislation.

“Transgender people deserve our respect, support and understanding. Our decision is about the legislation’s consequences for the operation of GB-wide equalities protections and other reserved matters.”